


Double or Nothing

by waitingforyouonce



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-12 07:15:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitingforyouonce/pseuds/waitingforyouonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Stefan trapped in a watery grave and Bonnie no longer on the earthly plane, Silas' two biggest obstacles are no longer a problem. Everything has gone according plan, but now Silas has to figure out away to a way to bring back the woman he loves. What will happen when it comes out that Stefan & Bonnie haven't actually been taken care of. Stefan/Bonnie, Silas/Qetsiyah</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Mystic Falls – Present Day (Stefan's Home)**

Silas gets out bed and briefly glances at the two women that are asleep in his bed before sighing in annoyance. He hates when they end up staying the night. He seriously contemplates whether or not to feed on them when both of the women stir. Deciding that feeding on them would be more trouble than it's worth, he compels them to leave instead. The women quickly start getting dressed and soon they are near the door getting ready to leave.

"Goodbye Stefan." The pale brunette giggles while her darker skinned friend drags her toward the front door.

"Have a good day ladies." He smiles tightly at the two women before the shutting the door. He has to admit that he still has trouble not rolling his eyes whenever he answers to his doppelganger's name, but it has gotten somewhat easier over a bit of time.

Ever since he's taken over his doppelganger's life, it has been a month of debauchery – feeding and non-stop sex. While he admits that it has been fun indulging, it has become boring and he now finds himself thinking of the actual reason he is came to Mystic Falls, Qetsiyah.

He may have spent the last month with other women but his mind had never been off of his powerful witch. Leave it to history to get things completely wrong. Despite what legend says, Qetsiyah hadn't been a friend that he ignored in favor of another. She was actually the woman he had planned to spend eternity with until everything went horribly wrong.

* * *

 

**Ancient Egypt - 2000 Years Ago (Qetsiyah's Bedroom)**

Qetsiyah smiles when Silas kisses her neck. "I've been waiting for you, my love. What kept you from me so long?"

"I had to wait until everyone was distracted so I could slip away." Silas pulls her into his arms "I take it you missed me tigress?"He asks humorously as his hands glide down her body, his lips never leaving the crook of her neck.

"Of course." She turns in his arms, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Silas' hands move from around her waist to her face to deepen their kiss. The kiss serves to fuel their need, but Silas still pulls away from his lover as a worrying thought comes to him.

"Where are Nekonekh and the little one?" Silas asks referring to her husband and child. As much as he craves his witch, he wants to be sure their affair isn't in danger of being revealed.

"Nekonekh and the other men went to gather supplies and the 'little one' as you call him, went along with them." She leans in to press a kiss to his lips, but Silas backs away. Qetsiyah looks at him in confusion, silently waiting for him to explain the sudden change in his demeanor.

"I'm not sure if we should keep doing this." He caresses her cheek. "It is becoming more and more difficult to leave you." His voice takes on a gloom tone as he stares intensely at her.

"What exactly are you saying Silas?" Qetsiyah looks back at him nervously.

"I'm saying I think we should runaway together, leave everything behind."

"What about our children? Could you really leave your daughter behind, especially since has already lost her mother?" Qetsiyah pauses, briefly thinking of Silas deceased wife that died during childbirth.

"I'm certain I could because I know she is already being adequately cared for by my brother's family." He takes her lips, briefly brushing them with his own in a short, but no less passion-filled kiss. She looks away from him intending to catch her breath, but he takes her chin pulling her face back towards his.

"Qetsiyah." He says her full name instead of his usual endearment for her and she knows what he says next will be very important. "I know you could do the same. We both know you are unhappy with the life you were forced into." He grabs at her shoulders.

"This." He looks around the large bedroom. "Should have been ours and you know it." He looks at her passionately and they both think about the way they were torn from each other as teenagers.

They had been best friends growing up as they both came from powerful witch families. Eventually they fell in love, but because of the differences in their backgrounds were not allowed to marry. As powerful as they both were back then, they had been too young to actually go through with defying their families.

Instead they were pushed into arranged marriages with people who were deemed more appropriate choices. They managed to stay away from each long enough for them both to have children, but after that they began a secret affair that has continued for a few years. The clandestine meetings had been enough for them at first, but lately they have both yearned for more.

"You are right my love." She nods at him. "We should have had a life together, but back then we were too afraid to do anything about it. We might not have had enough power back then, but I'm certain we do now and we could be together for eternity." She smiles up at him and begins to tell him her plan to make them both immortal.

Afterwards she finds herself flat on her back and being kissed thoroughly by her lover. The need that had been rampant when Silas first appeared returns almost immediately. He quickly divests both of them of their clothes and thrusts inside of her without any warning.

The moment his cock pushes inside of her his eyes widen with intense pleasure. Being with her is always amazing, but tonight knowing that they will finally get to be together like they have always wanted makes every moment all the more pleasurable.

Qetsiyah moans softly; her hips rise up with each thrust. Soon the pleasure almost becomes too much for her and she attempts to back away somewhat. "Oh God" she whimpers when she feels her orgasm building. "It's too much."

"Stay with me, Tigress." Silas whispers into her hair before bringing their mouths together. Silas grunts and pulls her thighs down lower around his hips, but doesn't relent. He continues making love to her wildly until she finally shatters around him, bringing him to his own orgasm. They collapse against each other and are on their way to contentment when they suddenly hear loud shouts.

Before Silas can react he is knocked unconscious.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home)- Present Day**

The shouts at been from Qetsiyah's husband and some of the other townsmen. It seems that Nekonekh had suspected their affair for a while now and had waited for them to meet so the affair would be exposed.

While he had been knocked unconscious, Qetsiyah had been killed by the townsmen. He had initially assumed it had been due to their affair, but he found out that the actual reason because she was a witch. Nekonekh had known about her powers before they married and had been okay with it. Silas had been furious when he found out Nekonekh had betrayed her secret because of his anger over the affair.

Back then it had been against the law for women to practice witchcraft, but not for men which was why he was spared public a death. Instead they planned banishing him so he would he die suffering. Before that could happen however, Qetsiyah had been able to make him immortal, saving him from death (though not from years of banishment) but without her body (it had been burned beyond recognition) she was unable to do the same for herself.

Still they vowed that they would be together for eternity. As a result, they had been planning for years to find a way, but it wasn't until recently that they realized that their plan could finally come to fruition. With him trapped as an immortal and her on the Other Side, the only ways for them to be together would either be for him take a cure and join her, something that was unacceptable for either of them as they would lose a most of their power once they were reunited. Since neither of them wanted to relinquish their power, they decided to go for the other option.

The other option had for them for them to wait for Qetsiyah's doppelgänger that would eventually show up in her ancestry line and find a way to take over her body. The doppelgänger would undoubtedly wield a lot of power which meant that not only would Qetsiyah finally have a body, but they would also be able to get him get back to his true form. They however had no way of knowing how long that might take; they only knew that they would wait forever if need be.

In the meantime Silas watched as his own doppelgänger appeared and while he was initially angry about the creation, once he saw him running around with Emily Bennett, he recognized that it might eventually work to his advantage. It took nearly two hundred years after that initial encounter for it to happen, but once Bonnie Bennett and Stefan Salvatore met, he knew he and Qetsiyah were close to getting what they wanted.

After seeing them interact Silas had always found it interesting that his doppelgänger and the witch never wondered why he was always allowed in the Old Witches House when no other vampire including his own brother was allowed inside. Neither wondered why he worked so hard to earn her trust and why she wanted even wanted to trust him in the first place. They likely just chalked it up to being him being pure-hearted instead of looking for any alternate reasoning.

Qetsiyah watched on as her ancestor's power grew, knowing that their plan to use her body would only work when the witch's powers were nearly insurmountable. When the Bennett witch began delving into dark magic and expression, they knew the time had come and began working accordingly.

He managed to free himself around that same time and began manipulating the witch and her friends by telling them little things about the legend that were untrue. It killed him a little to deny Qetsiyah's importance in his life, but he knew it was necessary. It had also been decided that Qetsiyah would not contact Bonnie or vice-versa in order to play up their antagonistic relationship.

As their doppelganger's Bonnie and Stefan were the only ones with enough power to defeat him and Qetsiyah. While they were both extremely powerful on their own, together they would be an unbreakable force. When you combine their power and the fact that they both tend to be too noble for their own goods, they would be an extremely dangerous team. Silas and Qetsiyah knew their doppelgängers would have to be neutralized and the last several months were spent preparing for that. In an ironic twist the nobleness that as usually a strength for their doppelgängers ended up being their downfall. Had they been more selfish, they might not be where they are now.

Silas smirks at how well their plan worked out, no one suspects a thing and based on his most interactions with them, they won't figure it out anytime soon.

* * *

 

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila Bennett paces worriedly, she hasn't seen Bonnie at all in the last week and she has no idea where she is. Ever since her granddaughter's death, Bonnie had been going back and forth between the ghostly plane and the earthly plane to visit the Gilbert boy, but she hasn't been back in few days. At first she thought that Bonnie finally told someone about her death and that she was able to bring herself back to life, but she knows Bonnie would have said goodbye first.

While she did go along with Bonnie's plan to hide it, unbeknownst to Bonnie, Qetsiyah managed to perform a spell that would preserve her granddaughter's body. She was able to do so when Bonnie went to graduation and Sheila had been incapable of stopping her powerful ancestor. Sheila knew that Qetsiyah's preservation spell had been for selfish (not mention dangerous) reasons, so once she knew Qetsiyah was gone from the cave, Sheila secretly did a spell that would hide Bonnie's body from both Silas and Qetsiyah. The downside meant that no one else would be able to find the body either which would make a resurrection much more difficult if not impossible.

When she and Bonnie crossed over together, Sheila had hoped that she would get a chance to tell Bonnie about what happened, but she could sense their ancestor's presence and she didn't want to alert her so she kept the news to herself.

Now she can only hope that wherever Bonnie is that she is at least safe.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Jeremy sighs when he hears giggling from upstairs. It's been a month since Bonnie brought him and made him promise not to tell anyone about her death, but it has been extremely difficult not to break that promise. Especially with Damon and Elena acting like they are newlyweds.

He doesn't know how long he can keep quiet especially since he hasn't heard from her in the last week. Over the last few weeks she has been going back and forth between here and the ghostly plane, but this week nothing. He assumes that she's been busy in the ghostly plane, but he hopes he hears from her soon. If Not he will have a talk with others and break a promise he probably shouldn't have kept in the first place.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) - Present Day  
**

Caroline Matt, Rebekah, and Tyler are hanging out together at Matt & Tyler's home and while it has been fun (and a little weird hanging out with Rebekah & Matt now that they are a couple), Caroline has to admit that she really misses Bonnie.

She hasn't seen her best friend since after graduation since Bonnie decided to spend the summer with her mother, but she hopes that she comes back in time to spend a little of time together before they go off to college.

* * *

 

**Unknown Room-Present Day**

Stefan jolts awake expect to be surrounded by water, but finds that he is laying in a bed of room he doesn't recognize.

Stefan sits up in the strange bed wondering if this yet another hallucination. He's been having a lot of those lately and strangely that have all been focused and centered on Bonnie. He has no idea if it's because she was the last person on his mind when he was going into the lake or if it is the guilt that he's technically still alive when she is not. He spent a lot of time thinking about her and how out of everyone she deserved to have good life the most.

After that he started getting the hallucinations. They usually started out with a memory of a moment they shared, but usually the moment would turn more intimate and romantic. He never has a problem with those hallucinations because Bonnie is a beautiful woman and he's always been attracted to her physically and magically.

The only problem is that the hallucinations usually turn horrific and that makes him remember that he is trapped underwater without much hope of being rescued.

When Stefan looks around the room again and still fails to recognize anything he realizes that this most likely isn't another hallucination. Still he decides to check out things hoping it will help him figure out what's going on. Before he can get up however he glances down and is shocked to see a familiar face lying beside him.

"Bonnie?" He yells out in surprise.

At his unintentional yell Bonnie jolts up into a sitting position looking just as shocked when she realizes who it was that called out her name. "Stefan?"

The two continue to stare at each other, both equally bewildered and flustered by the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Unknown Place – Present Day**

Stefan tries to open the door for a third time and once again gets a shock when his hand touches the doorknob. This time he decides to give it up, because clearly leaving the room isn’t going to be happening anytime soon.

Bonnie briefly closes and reopens her eyes, silently wondering if ghosts have the ability to hallucinate. The last thing she remembers before losing consciousness is that she was on way back to her Grams after visiting Jeremy and Caroline. Now she is in a room that she doesn’t recognize with the last person she would have ever expected.

She jumps suddenly when Stefan pinches her arm. “Ouch. Why the hell did you just pinch me?” She looks back him rubbing her arm.

“Sorry.” He looks at her sheepishly. “I needed to make sure this wasn’t another hallucination. I figured pinching myself would do me no good.” He shrugs.

Bonnie laughs slightly despite the serious look on his face because of how absurd it sounds. She sobers up when she catches the first half of his explanation.  “Wait. How do you know I’m a ghost and why would you be having hallucinations?”

“Silas told me about your death right before he trapped me at the bottom of the lake.” He says sadly.

“I thought I had taken care of him.” Bonnie gasps in surprise and a bit of frustration that Silas was free once again.

“Silas was released once you died because of some kind of loophole or so he said.”

“So the Stefan that’s been walking around Mystic Falls is actually…” Bonnie begins connecting the dots.

“Silas? Yeah, apparently I’m his doppelganger and he needed me out of the way for whatever his plan is.”  They look at each other, both thinking about the potential danger this places everyone in, until Stefan breaks the staring contest and changes the subject. “So now we just have to figure out where we are.”

“Yeah. I’m going to go out on a limb assume that  I’m still a ghost and you’re technically still at the bottom of that lake since no one knows what happened to you. ” She rests her head in her hand underneath her chin.

“And we aren’t allowed to leave the room.” Stefan glances at Bonnie and can see the wheels turning in her head. It’s always interesting to see Bonnie lost in thought and is pleased to see that not even death has changed that. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we might be in limbo. All the signs are there and we’re both in spirit form.” Bonnie explains her theory to him and the more he hears the more it starts to make sense.

“I think you’re right. Everything I remember about limbo seems to match up.” He agrees before his mind goes back to more morbid subject.  “Bonnie?” She looks back at him. “What exactly happened the day you died?”

* * *

 

**Mystic Grill – Present Day**

Damon and Elena are walking to his car after picking up a nice meal when they see Stefan with a strange woman, something that is not exactly usual that isn’t unusual these days. They watch as he kisses the woman on the cheek and lets her drive off.

Silas can sense them standing behind him and rolls his eyes to himself before changing his face into Stefan’s typical brooding expression. “Elena. Damon.” He greets them.

Elena smiles at him encouragingly “Stefan, how are you today?” Silently Elena thinks about how unlike Stefan this is. She expects the constant one night stand thing from Damon when he’s not in a relationship, it is weird seeing Stefan this way. Still if this how he needs to cope, she isn’t  going to condemn him for it.

Silas wants to laugh at her fake attempt of encouragement, but instead says “I’m doing okay.”

“We can see that little brother.” Damon says referring to the woman that had just left.”  It’s not exactly like his brother to have a bunch of one night stands, but if it keeps his mind of Elena, Damon figures it’s for the best.

The three stand there for a few moments awkwardly before Elena breaks the silence. “Well I guess we’ll see you later.” She and Damon say goodbye and quickly walk to Damon’s car.

Silas watches them leave and once he’s sure they are gone, he shakes his head in annoyance.  He doesn’t really understand how or why his doppelganger would put up with either them. He would have let them go a long time ago if he had to see them all the time, not to mention watching them constantly simper over one another. Then again he would have likely have been too focused on the Bennett witch to really care either way.

It is then that his mind goes from Bonnie to Qetsiyah. He hasn’t had much luck finding the witch’s body and it’s beginning to get frustrating.  With those thoughts, he thinks it’s time to pay a visit to the boardinghouse to pay a visit to the younger Gilbert. He’s the only one that is aware the witch is dead and Silas might be able to sense whether or not he knows where the body is.

* * *

 

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila sighs in aggravation. She really isn’t having the best day. Qetsiyah isn’t happy that Bonnie’s body is missing, Sheila still doesn’t know where Bonnie is, and contacting the Gilbert boy isn’t working at all. She had hoped she would be able to contact him since he can see ghosts, but for some reason the other spirits won’t allow her any contact with him.

She assumes that it is partially because Bonnie’s used dark magic multiple times to resurrect him, but she thinks that there is something else going on as well. She also has to wonder if the spirits were involved with Bonnie’s disappearance. If they are she can only hope they know what they are doing in the long run.

* * *

 

**Limbo –Present Day**

Stefan listens intently and sadly as Bonnie goes over the details of her death, when he suddenly remembers something that had been said on that fateful day.

During the graduation ceremony right before their group hug, Stefan remembers Caroline teasing Bonnie about crying. Bonnie’s response had been that it was their last hurrah before they went off to college. He didn’t think anything of it at the time, but now he remembers that she had not included herself in that statement. She had made a point of saying _you guys go off to college_ instead of  _we all go off to college,_ which means that she had already been dead way before the ceremony.

At that realization, Stefan feels anger rush through him and he is unable to reign in his anger.

Bonnie feels the sudden anger radiating from Stefan and wonders where exactly it’s coming from. At first she assumes it’s related to the situation in general, but after a few seconds she realizes Stefan’s anger is actually focused on her. The next words out of his mouth confirm her thoughts.

“Bonnie, you really piss me off sometimes. Do you know that?” His normally calm voice takes on an almost menacing tone.

At that Bonnie’s defenses are raised, wavering between being annoyed and confused by the change in atmosphere.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Caroline knocks on the door of the boardinghouse and waits to be let in when Jeremy appears at the door. “Hey Jer.” She smiles at him.

“Hi Caroline. If you’re looking for Elena she and Damon aren’t actually here right now.” He smiles at her apologetically.

“Actually, I came to talk to you. It’s about Bonnie. Can I come in?” She asks with a hint urgency.

Jeremy thinks about blowing her off, but knows that it would only make Caroline more suspicious. So he nods his head and backs up in order to let her in. They then walk into the leaving room both sitting on the large couch that sits in the middle of the room.

“So what did you want to know about Bonnie?” He is able to get it out evenly enough, but wonders how long that will last.

“I haven’t been able to get in contact with her at all this last month.” Caroline sighs sadly. “I know you said she went away with Abby, but we’ve never gone this long without talking. It’s not like her to not answer.”  The more she thinks about it, the more worried she gets.

“Maybe she wanted to spend time with Abby without interruptions.” Jeremy half-heartedly reasons.

“I don’t know.” The explanation isn’t that unbelievable, but it still doesn’t sit well with her. “You were the last one to see her did she seem okay to you?” She looks at him anxiously.

“What do you mean?” He plays dumb hoping that she doesn’t see the truth on his face.

“I didn’t realize it at the time with everything going on, but now I remember that Bonnie seemed kind down and emotional all day.” She thinks back to that day, hating that she didn’t remember that until just now.

“It was a big day for you guys. I’m sure it was the usual nostalgia that comes with the day.” Jeremy stands up and looks out the window to escape looking at her.

“Maybe.” Caroline nods, but inwardly she still thinks that something isn’t right about the situation.

“I hate to rush you out, but I have to head to work.” At this point Jeremy just wants to get her out because he’s afraid of blurting out the truth.

She stands up and heads to door saying goodbye to Jeremy on her way out. Once she is in her car she thinks about the odd way Jeremy was acting. His explanations made sense, but he clearly kept trying to deflect, not to mention the way it kept avoiding looking at her. He obviously wasn’t going to be any help with this, so she thinks it’s time for her to pay Bonnie’s father a visit.

* * *

 

**Limbo – Present Day**

“What the hell are you talking about?” Bonnie glares up at Stefan, her own anger flaring up. They might be stuck together, but that doesn’t mean she wants to deal with an angry vampire.

Stefan continues his angry pacing for several moments attempting to calm himself down, but with every step his anger only rises.

“You were already dead at graduation and you didn’t tell anyone!” Bonnie stiffens in surprise at his words. “Why the hell wouldn’t you tell us about this?” Stefan spits out with no attempt to sugarcoat his words.

“It was graduation. I wanted everyone to have a good day instead of feeling bad about something that couldn’t be fixed.” She explains calmly.

She says it with such resignation that it only serves to make Stefan angrier because it is just like her to do something like that.

“I had the cure and if I’d known that you needed it, I would have given it to you. And if that didn’t work we could have found another way to save you.” Stefan stops pacing his anger shifting to sadness. “Why couldn’t you be selfish and think about yourself for once?” He sits down next to her on the bed slipping her hand into his own.

Bonnie looks slightly shocked at the uncharacteristic show of emotion in regards to her. Don’t get her wrong she knows that Stefan cares about her on some level, but she always assumed that it would be more for Elena’s sake than anything else.

 “I know that I haven’t always been a great friend to you, but I do care about you.” Stefan begins softly, seemingly reading her thoughts.  “It may have initially been because of how important you were to Elena, but now I couldn’t imagine you not being a part of my life.” He stares intently at her, hoping to convey just why he is upset at apparent lack of regard for her own life.

“I just want to know why you wouldn’t tell anyone about this. Why do you have to be so damn selfless all the time?” His voice rises, but there is no anger this time only frustration.

“You’re one to talk ‘Mr. I have the cure, but I’ll give to Elena instead.’ You aren’t exactly known for being for being selfish either.” She tries diverting the conversation back to him, inwardly smiling when he seemingly takes the bait.

“Ok, but in my case giving Elena the cure made sense, she never would have become vampire if she hadn’t have met me or Damon. I was just trying to give that back to her.” He says defending his own actions.

“Stefan as much as I hate to say it, Elena clearly wants to be a vampire at this point. This is why she didn’t take the cure and instead gave it to Katherine.” She  looks down at their joined hands, it’s funny a couple of years ago she would have been angry that Elena wanted  to stay a vampire, but she now realizes that much like she loves being a witch, her friends like having the power that comes with being a vampire.

“Ok so we both have tendency to play martyr.” He smirks self-deprecatingly before continuing on, “Once we find a way to get out of here, we should really stop doing that.” He smile becomes wider and Bonnie can’t help smiling back before sobering up.

“You mean _you_ should stop doing that. If we do get out of here, I’ll still be dead I am a ghost you know.” Bonnie points out bravely, but she is unable to hide the sadness in her voice.

Stefan frowns and slides closer to her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “No I mean _we_ should stop doing that. If we ever get out of here I’m not to rest until we find a way to bring you back.  And before you say anything helping you is totally different than helping the others. So are you with me on this?” He stares unblinkingly into her eyes.

 “Okay” She agrees, “So I guess on top of finding a way out of here, we should both should start working on thinking about ourselves more often.” She smiles and is surprised when Stefan pulls her into a tight hug.

If anyone else had made that promise, she would have scoffed, but she believes if anyone has the power to bring her back, it would be Stefan.  And the thought of someone working that hard on her behalf makes her strangely happy.

Stefan smiles softly when he feels Bonnie melt into his embrace glad that she finally agreed to let him help her. Now they just have to figure out how to get out of here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mention it in the chapter, but the time in limbo sort of runs faster than the time in the Ghostly & Earthly planes. Time isn't really moving faster, but it feels that way to Bonnie and Stefan. So what would be few days for everyone else would feel like weeks for the two of them.

**Limbo – Present Day**

Stefan watches as Bonnie sleeps soundly next him. They have been working on a way to get out of limbo ever since they figured out where they were, but so far they haven't had much luck. Today had been more of the same and eventually an exhausted Stefan convinced an equally exhausted Bonnie to get some sleep.

He had fallen asleep as well, but had been awakened by a dream about Bonnie that left him aroused. Normally that wouldn't have been a bad thing, but he had been so terrified that with Bonnie sleeping right beside him that he might end up grabbing her in his sleep, that he jolted awake. Fortunately upon waking he realized that it hadn't happened, but he had still been too keyed up to fall back asleep. He had finally been able to calm himself down, but now hours later sleep still eluded him.

Instead Stefan finds himself content just to watch Bonnie sleep; fascinated by all of her little quirks. Almost as if she is reading his mind, Bonnie suddenly stirs; stretching before she looks back at him.

"How long have you been awake? Bonnie asks slightly self-conscious. She knows that as a vampire he doesn't need as much rest and wonders how long he might have been watching.

"Long enough to know that you're a snorer." He quips, laughing when she throws her pillow at him.

"Shut up. I do not snore." Bonnie mock pouts; secretly thrilled by his teasing. Despite knowing each other all this time, she had never really gotten to see this side of him before now.

"How would you know whether or not you snore if you're asleep." He smiles at her before getting distracted by the stray hair covering her cheek. Without thinking, Stefan reaches over and pushes her hair back. Before he can pull away his hand grazes her face and he's surprised when he feels a spark run through him at the contact.

While Bonnie is surprised by Stefan's unexpected move, she finds herself more surprised by the spark she feels when his hand touches her cheek. Uncomfortable by those thoughts, Bonnie decides to instead focus on getting them out of limbo. "Maybe we she should get back to work."

"Actually, I think we should take a break today. We've been at this for what seems like weeks and we haven't gotten anywhere. Some time away might help in the long run. Plus I like talking to you. Are you game?" Stefan smiles softly at her.

"Okay." Bonnie grins back at him. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Her eyes sparkle with amusement and Stefan wonders what exactly he got himself into.

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Cave) –Present Day**

Silas angrily punches the cave wall causing the walls to slightly vibrate with his power. He had just come from seeing the Gilbert boy. He had hoped him being aware of Bonnie's death would also mean that he had some information about the witch that Silas had missed. In the end he found out nothing new, which means that trying to find the witch's body will be all the more difficult. He won't give up however; Silas has been waiting lifetimes to be reunited with his love and now that they are close to getting what they want, no way is he giving up. Even if that means everyone in Mystic Falls goes down in the process.

After that revelation, he feels a breeze and knows that it is Qetsiyah making her presence known.

"Soon, Tigress." He cracks his knuckles "Soon we will be together in every way" He smiles wickedly as he walks out of the cave.

* * *

**Limbo – Present Day**

"You did not hear me." Bonnie flushes with slight embarrassment after the subject of her first sighting of him comes up.

"I specifically remember hearing you say that I had a hot back." Stefan chuckles, he hadn't actually thought about that day in a while, but he does remember feeling extremely flattered as well as a bit of an attraction to her. If he's honest, he might have actually asked her out had he not been so focused on Elena.

If possible Bonnie flushes even more, but still she attempts to play it off. "You're a good looking guy and you were in my line of vision. You can't blame me for stating the obvious." She shrugs. She would never admit it, but she had been extremely attracted to him but after she realized he was into Elena she let it go. Speaking of Elena, "So it feels like we've been avoiding this, but I really do want to know how you're dealing Elena choosing Damon?"

"I'm feeling better about it than I was when it first happened. Still while I wouldn't say I'm happy about Elena choosing someone else, I guess I'm happy that both she and Damon are happy." Stefan smiles weakly.

Bonnie squeezes his hand and not for the first time wonders how Elena could pick Damon over Stefan.

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Elena is pleasantly surprised to see Caroline at her door as she hasn't seen her all that much, this last month being focused on her new relationship with Damon. "Hey Caroline." Elena gives her a smile only for it to fade when she sees the look on blonde vampire's face. "What's up?"

"It's about Bonnie." Caroline says cutting to chase. She's way too worried about Bonnie to focus on fake pleasantries.

"What about Bonnie?" Elena asks confused, Jeremy had told both of them about Bonnie's plan to spend the summer with her mother, so she wonders what has Caroline so spooked.

"I've called her several times and I haven't gotten a response. Don't you think it's kind of weird that we haven't heard from her in the last month?" Caroline looks at Elena a bit frustrated by her lack of response.

"Not really." she shrugs "I mean Jeremy said that she just wanted to focus on her mother. So it makes sense that she wouldn't call us."

"It doesn't feel right to me." Caroline exhales before continuing her train of thought "I get wanting to spend time with Abby and I think that's cool. But let's get real; they haven't exactly had the greatest mother-daughter relationship so I can't see Bonnie not contacting one of us to talk." If she's honest Caroline isn't sure about Bonnie talking to Elena considering their relationship as of late, but she figured now wasn't the time to open up that can of worms.

"I think you might be over reacting a bit Caroline. Not talking to us isn't really that big of deal. She's done it before." Elena says remembering the way she was after Sheila's death and when happy left.

 _'Not to me.'_ is all Caroline can think. Other than the period right after she was first turned, there's rarely been a day that has gone by where Bonnie and Caroline haven't talked. However, she doesn't say this to Elena, instead she admits her real worry. "I don't think I am, I really think that something might actually be wrong. And I think something was wrong on graduation day, before she supposedly went to see Abby."

"Come on Caroline, if there had been something wrong that day Bonnie would have said something." Elena is about to say more when she hears the door open and Damon walks in.

"Blondie." Damon briefly greets Caroline before pressing a kiss to Elena's lips.

"Damon." Caroline greets him back both annoyed at the display and by the distraction it caused. She watches as Elena pushes him away slightly and address Caroline once again.

"As I was saying Bonnie would have told us if something was wrong. And if she didn't Jeremy would. She will be back before we know it." Elena smiles before looking at Damon again and Caroline realizes then that much like Jeremy, Elena won't be any help.

"Maybe you're right." Caroline fakes a smile "I guess I'll talk you later then." And with that she walks out of the boardinghouse and heads to her car.

Caroline doesn't know whether to feel hurt or angry by Elena's flippant attitude, but she does know one thing, Elena was wrong about Bonnie. It is just like Bonnie to pretend that she okay when she really isn't and it's not the first time that's happened either.

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Mansion)**

Matt is just about to head to work when he sees Caroline rush in the door. It's obvious that she is upset about something. "Hey, what's wrong?" He rushes after her before she gets to the room that she is sharing with Tyler.

Caroline is unsure if she wants to deal with having another person brush off her fears (she had even tried to contact Stefan to no avail), but quickly decides that Matt should know about Bonnie either way.

Matt sees the hesitation in her eyes and knows that whatever it is that she's dealing with has to be serious. So he waits patiently for her to gather her thoughts. Finally, she nods and they walk back to living room to sit on the couch. She then begins telling him about what's been going on the last few days.

When she is finished she waits for his response and she has to admit that there is a part of her that is expecting him to brush her off like Elena, Stefan, and Jeremy have so she is surprised when he agrees with her. "You're right and I think we should go see Bonnie's father."

"Wait. You mean you actually believe me?" She asks doubtfully. "I've already had Elena, Jeremy, and even Stefan brush me off so I wouldn't be surprised if you did as well."

"Yeah I do believe you. Bonnie wouldn't just ignore your calls and she does have a tendency to keep her troubles to herself." He explains. "To be honest, I was actually kind of worried about her as well and I called her, but I didn't get an answer either." The two share a look of worry. "I just figured that I was just being paranoid and assumed that she would at least be talking to you." He finishes as he clasps his hands together in anxiousness.

When Matt thinks back to graduation he remembers that Bonnie seemed off, but he had assumed it was because of the day. After having time to think it and adding in all of Caroline's information, now he knows that there was something was up with her.

Caroline exhales in relief, glad that someone actually believes her, but she has to admit a part of her wanted it to be paranoia because it would mean that Bonnie was fine.

"So what's your plan?" Caroline looks up when Matt addresses her again.

"I was actually thinking about going to see Bonnie's father to see if he knew anything. In fact I think I'll go right now. I'll see you later." Caroline stands up and begins walking to the front door when she hears Matt's voice.

"Ok let's go."Matt stands up as well and walks over to her.

"I thought you had to go to work?" She remembers hearing him mention that yesterday.

"Bonnie's more important than work." He says it so earnestly that Caroline can't help but smile a bit. "Besides there is no way I'd be able to concentrate on anything anyway. "So let's go talk to Mayor Hopkins." He smiles weakly and pulls out his car keys. "I'll drive."

And with that the two of them make their way to Bennett/Hopkins home.

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Bennett/Hopkins Residence) – Present Day**

Rudy Hopkins has to admit that he was shocked to see two of Bonnie's friends at his door, especially since his daughter isn't even in town. The shock soon shifts to worry however, when Caroline explains the reason for their visit. He hasn't heard from her in the last month, but that isn't all that unusual when she's visiting Abby.

Ever since their intervention and Bonnie's cleansing, the two women have been attempting to repair their relationship. And if he's honest, despite Abby's abandonment, he did feel that she was safe with her which was why he hadn't been worried that she hadn't contacted him. However now knowing that she hasn't contacted her friends either has him a bit worried.

"You two should sit down." He gestures toward the couch "I'll call Abby and see what's going on?" He says as he walks into the hallway.

Rudy then dials Abby's number and after several rings it goes to voicemail. "Abby, it's Rudy. I really need to talk to you about Bonnie. Call me when you get this." He hangs up and is about to head back to the living room where Matt and Caroline are when door bell rings.

When he opens the door he is surprised to see Abby standing there holding her phone. "What about Bonnie?" She asks worriedly and it becomes clear that she had heard his message.

"How did you get here so fast?" Rudy asks still in shock.

"I was actually already coming to check up on Bonnie –and you" she adds the last part quietly. "Now what's going on with Bonnie?" Abby's voice rising when she notices Matt and Caroline looking at her with worry in their eyes.

"You mean she's not with you?" Caroline asks already knowing the answer to the question, but hoping to be wrong.

"No she's not. What's going on? Where is my daughter?" Abby looks around the room taking in the alarmed faces of its occupants and a mixture of confusion, worry, and dread hits her all at once.

"We don't know." Rudy answers and he proceeds to explain the situation with help from Caroline and Matt.

The more information Abby was given the more distressed she felt, still she calms herself down enough to ask "So who was the last person to actually talk to her?"

"Jeremy" Matt answers before Caroline has a chance to.

"Well I think it's time we have a talk with him, don't you?" Abby directs to Rudy who nods his head in agreement.

"I couldn't agree more. " Rudy sighs before looking at Caroline and Matt. "So where can we find him?"

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Outside of the Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Jeremy puts the car into park and exhales tiredly before getting out. He doesn't know if he can keep hiding this secret from the others. Every day that passes where he doesn't see Bonnie, the more he thinks she isn't coming back.

It had been hard not saying anything to Matt they saw each other and that is also why he has been avoiding Caroline as late. The only ones that haven't been suspicious are Elena, Damon, and Stefan. He assumes that this is because Elena and Damon are in the honeymoon stage of their relationship and Stefan is still reeling from Elena not picking him.

Despite this, Elena did get it in her head to set him up on a blind double date with a girl she met a party. She had been asking about him and Bonnie and when he told her it wasn't going to happen between them, she set up the date. He had been having a good time, but then he remembered and felt guilty. Soon the date finished and he decided to go home instead of hanging out with Damon and Elena any longer.

Jeremy walks into the boardinghouse and is about to head to his room when he realizes that he isn't alone. When he turns around toward the living room he is surprised to see Matt, Caroline and both of Bonnie's parents standing there a mixture of worry, anger and fear on all of their faces.

"I think we have few things we need to discuss." Rudy addresses him. "The most important question being where is our daughter?" Rudy hand rests on Abby's shoulder as he says the last part.

Jeremy looks around the room at everyone and sees the worry in Caroline and Matt's eyes, he feels fear radiating off of Bonnie's parents and he knows he can no longer keep them in the dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Boardinghouse – Present Day**

Once Jeremy reveals Bonnie's death and the circumstances surrounding it to the others, there are a variety of reactions.

Matt's first reaction is denial. He doesn't want to believe that Bonnie is gone, that she'll never get to go to college, get married or have children. It had only been a few weeks since they went to prom and were voted king and queen. _'How could things go so wrong in such a short time?_ When it finally sinks in that he will never get to hear the sound of voice or see her smile again, Matt punches a hole in the wall.

Caroline is the most vocal of the group, she is unable to stop the tears from running down her face or the loud sobs from spilling out of her mouth. And despite knowing that it's way too late for it to make a difference she tearfully demands that Jeremy tell her where the body is. When she finds out that it's missing and that Jeremy believes Bonnie had been the one to hide it, she feels anger. She's angry that Bonnie decided to be selfless and not mention that anything was wrong during graduation. She's angry that Bonnie had Jeremy cover up her death from everyone. ' _Did she really think I wouldn't be more hurt finding out that my best friend had been dead for months why I was laughing it up unaware?'_ Most of all Caroline is angry that she didn't realize something was wrong sooner. She had been so wrapped up in graduation, that she hadn't picked up on the little clues Bonnie subconsciously threw out.

At those realizations, Caroline is unable to stop bile from coming up in her throat and as a result has to rush to the bathroom. Afterwards she sits on the floor, wishing that this was a nightmare that she could wake up from, but she knows it's all too real. Somewhere in the back her mind, it registers that Matt is calling the others who haven't been told, but she still doesn't move from her spot on the floor.

Rudy and Abby are of course devastated at the loss of their daughter, yet both react to the news differently. When Jeremy confesses that Bonnie died trying to bring him back to life, Rudy becomes so enraged that his first instinct is to attack Jeremy. He had already accepted that he lost his wife and mother in law, but he had hoped his daughter wouldn't succumb to the Bennett curse. He thinks about how much his family has had to sacrifice for the Gilbert family and he just blacks out. _'It's his fault that my daughter is gone'_ is the only thought that runs through his mind at that point. It actually takes Matt  & Abby's vampire strength to pry his hands from around Jeremy's neck. Afterwards he mumbles out an apology and walks out of the boardinghouse, needing a moment alone.

In contrast all Abby can think about is finding away to bring Bonnie back to life. ' _There is no way I'm accepting this fate for my daughter.'_ Not for the first time, Abby wishes she were still a witch because then she could and would gladly risk her life to bring Bonnie back with a spell. Since she is unable to do this on her own she decides to leave Mystic Falls to find someone who can help her bring Bonnie back.

Rudy sees Abby rush out of the boardinghouse and stops her before she can take off. He admits that he's still hurt by her absence, but he still remembers what they once had. And he realizes that she's the only person he wants to grieve with.

When she informs him of her plan to bring Bonnie back to life he pulls her into a hug before he insists that he go with her. "I already lost you to magic by being passive." The heat from his breath warms her ear. "I'm not going to lose Bonnie for good by doing the same. I'm going with you." his voice mixture of grief and determination.

Abby's first instinct is to say no, but when she pulls back from the hug and sees the determined look in his eyes, she realizes that she cannot and should not do this without him. "Okay." She nods her consent "When do you want to leave?"

"How about right now?"

"Okay."She sighs

"Let's go save our daughter"

And with that the two leave to prepare for their long and difficult mission to save their only child.

* * *

 

**Limbo – Present Day**

When Stefan slowly awakens, he feels a warmth and completeness that he hasn't felt in a long time. He is confused at first but slowly he figures out that the warmth he feels is literal and realizes that Bonnie is halfway cuddled in his arms. His arm is wrapped around her waist and he marvels at how great her curves feel under his hand. Her head rests on his shoulder and her hand is pressed against his chest. He can also feel her breath against his neck and smell the scent of her perfume. Silently he wonders just how she can smell so great even after all this time they have spent in limbo.

Bonnie shifts against him pressing herself even closer against his body and the slight erection he had upon waking grows to the point where it is almost becomes painful. ' _It's getting harder'_ he thinks both literally and figuratively. Every day that passes, the more he dreams about Bonnie and the more his dreams translate to reality. He constantly wakes up with an erection and no way to fix it. The fact that the reason for his erection is in the same room as him makes things even worse.

As if he called out her name Bonnie shifts again this time stirring awake. Stefan watches as she slowly opens her eyes, finding himself mesmerized by how green they are when she first wakes up. It's something that he had never noticed before, but after spending so much time with Bonnie he now knows that her eyes tend to change depending on her mood. It makes him wonder what they would look like in a moment of passion.

The first thing Bonnie sees when she wakes up is Stefan's sculpted face. She takes in the intense way he's staring at her, the hardness of his body against her own, and she feels a heat run through her. She doesn't know if it is due to the amount of time they've spent together, the close proximity or because of something else altogether, but lately she has been finding herself extremely attracted to him. Don't get her wrong, she always thought he was hot, but now it's gotten to the point where she has to restrain herself from jumping him. Unwillingly her gaze drops to his lips and she wonders what it would be like to kiss him.

Stefan's gaze moves from Bonnie's eyes to her lips for second before looks back up into her eyes. As if in a trance, the two slowly start to lean in for a kiss until Bonnie pulls away at the last second. Her body wants to rebel, but Bonnie knows pulling away is for the best. Instead she moves out of Stefan's embrace and changes the subject. "So." She looks away and clears her throat "We should probably get started with our research." She says quietly, referring to the research they've been doing on finding a way out of limbo.

"Yeah, you're right." Stefan sits up as well and discreetly adjusts himself to ease some the tension in his groin. He admits that he's more than slightly disappointed that Bonnie pulled away, but he realizes sharing a kiss might not be the best idea at this point.

The two quickly get back to their research, neither acknowledging the almost kiss or the growing attraction between them.

* * *

**Boardinghouse – Present Day**

When Damon and Elena return from their date they see Matt, Caroline, Tyler, and Jeremy sitting in the living room. Caroline and Tyler are on the couch, Caroline resting her head on his shoulder. Her face is red and puffy from crying, but she has finally managed to stop sobbing. Matt and Jeremy both opted to sit in the two lounge chairs that bookend each end of the couch.

The room is darkened so neither Damon or Elena realize that something is very wrong at first. If they had the next words out of Damon's mouth would have been much different.

"So what was so important that you needed to interrupt our night out?" Damon addresses Matt annoyed by the phone call he received from the young blonde man.

"It's about Bonnie." Matt says with clenched teeth. Most of the time he can tolerate Damon's snarky attitude, but right now he can barely restrain himself from jumping up hitting him despite Damon's vampire status.

Elena steps forward to diffuse the situation and realizes from the look on everyone's face that something terrible has happened. "Guys?" her voice trembles as she addresses them "what happened to Bonnie?"

When they tell her and Damon what happened, the first thing Elena feels after the normal devastation is guilt because she had been so caught up in herself and Damon that she failed to notice anything was wrong with Bonnie. Next she wonders why Bonnie would keep something like that to herself and when she thinks about all that's gone on in the last year she thinks that maybe Bonnie no longer trusted her the way she used to.

Damon is shocked by Bonnie's death and he has to admit that he'll miss her, but right now he's angry that she kept her death from Elena and the others. He knows that his girlfriend will be feeling guilty because she didn't realize that something was up with the witch. He doesn't say any of this however because he knows it wouldn't go over very well with anyone in the room including Elena.

Instead he watches as Jeremy and Elena hug attempting comfort each other in their grief.

Tyler hears a click at the door and is unsurprised to see Stefan walk in the door. What he is surprised by is the uneasy feeling he gets when Stefan steps fully into the room. Of the two Salvatore brothers, he has always been a lot more comfortable with Stefan so it really makes no sense for him to feel uneasy.

Still, he decides to follow his instincts and keep an eye on the vampire. When Stefan is informed of what happened to Bonnie, Tyler notices that his reaction to the news is off. Stefan is normally much more expressive of his pain and Tyler knows that Bonnie's death would evoke a more significant response, instead of the slight sadness. He continues to stare at the vampire in confusion until he gets a whiff of his scent. _'Just what I thought not the right scent, which means we have an imposter'_ Tyler stiffens and stands up. He knows the others are looking at him in confusion, but ignores that for the time being.

"Guys? I don't know how to say this, but I don't think that's Stefan." Tyler says before swiftly getting into a defensive stance.

"What do you mean?" Caroline looks up at her boyfriend in shock from the couch.

"His scent is off." He says before explaining further "Everyone has a unique scent and as a werewolf I can sense each one. Stefan's isn't right." He steps closer to the imposter. "Which means this isn't the real Stefan."

Caroline's mouth opens in denial, but when she thinks about it makes a lot sense. He hasn't really been around much the lately and he has been sleeping around a lot, which isn't like him. She assumed it had been because of Elena choosing Damon and she had been meaning to talk to him. However, with her worry over Bonnie, she had forgotten to do so. How could she have let both of her friends down this way.

"Who the hell are you?" She looks the man that is wearing Stefan's face.

Silas debates about whether or not to deny the accusations. If he really wanted to he could easily convince them that he's his doppelganger, but pretending to be Stefan hasn't gotten him anywhere and he's tired of pretending so he decides to admit the truth.

"You know what; I no longer have the energy to continue this with charade." He lifts his hands in the air in a mock gesture of defeat. "Tyler is actually correct, I'm not Stefan."

Everyone in the room goes into shock and Silas is unsurprised to see Caroline attempting to rush him. Tyler stops her, not wanting her to place herself in unknown danger.

"Who are you then?" Damon's rage-filled voice feels the air. He might not always get along with Stefan, but he be damned if he lets someone take over his life this way.

He pouts mockingly "I'm hurt. I've spent the last several months terrorizing all of you and you don't even have the decency to remember me."

"Silas" Caroline is the first to say anything.

"I know for a fact that Bonnie took care of you." Elena says overwhelmed.

He laughs maniacally at them "You all thought the little witch had taken care of me, but what you didn't know was that when she died, a loophole was created and I was able to come back to life."

"So why pretend to be Stefan?" Elena asks in confusion.

"You aren't the only one who has doppelganger. I bet you don't feel so special anymore." He taunts.

Damon, getting tired of his taunting rushes over to him "Where the hell is my brother?" His hands go around his neck. "I'll rip you head from your body if you don't tell me where he is."

Silas rolls his eyes and pulls the stake that he carries around out before jamming it in Damon's side. Damon collapses to the ground in pain and Elena moves to check his wounds. Silas moves closer to the door when Tyler and Caroline move closer to him. "Tell us where he is."

"Do you really think your threats mean anything to me? I'm over 2,000 years old. There is only one person that could possibly defeat me and that person is now dead." Everyone stiffens at the mention of Bonnie. "I will however give you all one tiny reprieve and tell you my doppelganger is still alive." He exhales tiredly before continuing. "As for the where, you'll have to figure that out yourself, though I doubt you ever will." He chuckles one more time, finding the gloomly looks on everyone's faces amusing.

Before anyone can make a move, Silas disappears in puff of smoke.

* * *

**Limbo – Present Day**

After working quietly for several hours, Bonnie and Stefan decide to take a break and it leads to another long discussion. They initially began talking to hash out the issues that had disrupted their friendship (his involvement in Abby's death as witch and as a result, her lack of trust in him). They both figured if they were going to be trapped together for who knows how long, getting over those humps would be a good idea.

Eventually the talks shifted to more personal topics and the last few months they have spent together in limbo have lead to variety of discussions. Stefan is actually finds himself slightly shocked by how little he knew about her despite knowing each other all this time.

He never knew that she could speak five other languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Polish). When he told her that she had him beat by one, she teased him about it in a way that made him want to kiss the smirk off her face. He found out that she is huge fan of music and he was slightly surprised they share many of the same musical tastes despite their age difference.

He has also found out things that she has never told anyone before, like how she had always been drawn to photography. And that whenever she got a chance (lately she hasn't had any time to) she would secretly take pictures, trying to convey feeling into whatever subject she is focused on. Every new thing he finds out about her, he finds himself more drawn to her and he has no idea what to about it.

Bonnie can't believe how much she has come to enjoy talking and spending time Stefan. She knew from past conversations that he was a great listener and that he had calming influence at times, but she genuinely finds all of his stories captivating.

She enjoys hearing about his childhood and finds herself amused by a story where he at 8 years old, accidentally broke Damon's noise with a punch. She is intrigued by his stories of how he dealt with becoming a vampire. As well as learning how he deals with the guilt of being the ripper and trying to control that darker side of himself. It actually reminds her of the guilt she feels about her turn to darker magic this year. She would love place the blame on being manipulated by Shane, but she knows she had been drawn to the power it gave her. She's managed to control it now, but it is still a struggle not go back in that direction at times, especially when she is angry. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who understands having to control that dark side even more than she does.

She loves that despite his serious nature, he actually has a great sense of humor and especially loves that she is the one to bring out that side of him. Once she finds this out, she makes it her goal to get him to laugh and smile more and he does. The only downside is that every time his lips shift into a grin she always thinks about wanting to kiss him. She has no idea what to do with those thoughts and instead keeps them to herself.

Bonnie blinks out her thoughts when she hears Stefan calling her name and realizes that she zoned out. Flushing slightly, she grins to cover it up. "What's up?"

Stefan smirks when he sees the red flush in Bonnie's skin, but instead of mentioning it repeats what he said. "I said I'm glad we're here together." He smiles widely at her feeling butterflies in his stomach when she quickly returns the smile.

Bonnie sucks in a breath at the sexy grin he gives before responding. "Me too." And she means it. If she had to be stuck with anyone, she's glad that it is with Stefan.

* * *

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila stands in the same spot she was in when Bonnie disappeared when she realizes that she isn't alone. "Emily." She isn't surprised to see her ancestor and hopes that this means she knows Bonnie's whereabouts.

"I know you have been worried about Bonnie, but you don't need to worry as she is in limbo with the younger Salvatore." Emily's explains to her calmly.

"So I was right, the other spirits had something to do with Bonnie's disappearance, but why is she with Stefan?" Sheila asks wondering what possible reason the spirits would have to put the vampire and witch in limbo.

"Everything will be revealed in due time." She steps closer to her granddaughter "Just know that they both are safe and are being prepared to fulfill their destiny. And know that when the time comes you'll know what to do. " Emily doesn't want to vague, but knows that it will be easier for Sheila to help Bonnie if she trusts her own instincts instead of listening to instructions from the elder spirits.

And with that last thought she disappears, leaving Sheila alone.


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) – Present Day**

Damon props his feet on the small table, bored out of his mind. He and Elena had received a massage from Caroline asking them to meet at Tyler and Matt's place right away. He didn't really want to go, but Elena insisted that Caroline made it sound important. So now here they were waiting for the blonde vampire to say whatever it is she needed to say. It had been about a week since they found out the news about Bonnie and Stefan and since then everything has been hectic. Silas has seemingly left town which is good because that is one less thing to worry about, but it also makes finding Stefan more difficult.

The last week has spent been looking into ways to find where Stefan is being held, but so far he hasn't had much luck. It's even more of a harder feat now that Bonnie is gone. Until now, Damon had never realized just how much they relied on her for magic. Had the witch been around, she could have easily done a tracking spell and finding Stefan would have been a snap.

Elena glances around the room, her eyes landing on Jeremy, Tyler, Matt and Damon, before stopping on Caroline. She knows that whatever Caroline's news is has to be about Bonnie because of the way her voice sounded on the phone.

"Bonnie's parents called and told me to get everyone together." Caroline says calmly. Caroline had been in frequent contact with Abby and Rudy throughout the week, hoping that they would find something to help Bonnie. She had also been looking around Mystic Falls using her vampire contact. Neither had been very successful with their endeavors, but today Caroline received a phone call from Abby saying that had found someone one to help and when they returned to town, they needed everyone together.

Elena looks up in surprise wondering how long Caroline has been in contact with them. They had left town as soon as they heard the news about Bonnie. She had a assumed that they just wanted time away, but apparently there had been more to it than that.

"Did they say what they wanted? And why not meet at Bonnie's house then?"Elena fires off both questions rapidly.

"Vampires are last thing Bonnie's dad wants to invite in his home right now."Caroline explains, not mentioning the fact that she and Stefan both still have invites to come into Bonnie's home.

"Let me get this straight, you asked us to meet here because of Judgy 's parents? You do realize I'm trying to find my brother?" Damon says in annoyance. He gets that they are grieving, but his time would be better spent figuring out a way to find Stefan instead of getting what he assumes will be a tongue lashing from Bonnie's parents.

"This is the exact reason they didn't want to come to boardinghouse." Caroline manages to get out the words evenly despite the slight anger the flared up at Damon's tone. She knows that he's worried about Stefan (she is as well), but she hates the flippant way he's been acting since they got the news about Bonnie. As if Bonnie isn't just as important as Stefan to all of them.

"Anyway as I was saying, Bonnie's parents wanted me to get everyone together because they believe they found a way to bring Bonnie back to life."

Jeremy and Elena have the most visible reactions to the news. Caroline sees the brightness in Jeremy's eyes and the relief Elena's. Matt and Tyler both sit up somewhat surprised, they knew that Caroline had been in contact with Abby and Rudy, but they had not heard about the newest update. Damon on the other hand, seems to have no outward reaction to the news, his mind still on finding Stefan.

"That's great and all, but couldn't you have told us this over the phone. Why call us over here?" He sighs.

"I'd say you all owe it to Bonnie after all she's done for you." A voice says and everyone realizes it's coming from across the room.

Everyone turns toward the new voice and are surprised to see a somber Lucy Bennett standing in the doorway with a subdued Abby and Rudy standing behind her.

* * *

**Limbo – Present Day**

Weeks have passed since Bonnie and Stefan's almost kiss and over time the unresolved tension between them has only increased. While they have both have been making attempts to ignore the shift in the atmosphere as of late, it is becoming much more difficult to do so with each day that passes.

Right now, Stefan is lounging on the bed watching Bonnie pace back and forth in front of him; obviously lost in thought. They have been making a lot of progress with their research and Stefan was actually supposed to be going over the different ideas they have come up with, but instead he finds himself focused on Bonnie. He watches as she takes her bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth and slowly lets it pop back out.

"I think I got it." Bonnie suddenly blurts out causing Stefan to shake out of his thoughts of kissing her.

"You mean you figured out a way for us –"

"-to get out of here." She interrupts him "Sort of." Bonnie notices the perplexed look on his face and hurries on with her explanation. "It's more like I found a way to talk to the spirits. If I can get in touch with Grams and the other spirits, I should be able to gain enough power to zap us out of here. We would still have to fix me being dead and you being stuck under water, but at least half the battle would be over." She finishes happily.

An ecstatic Stefan jumps up and hauls an equally ecstatic and surprised Bonnie into a tight hug. Bonnie's arms instinctively slide around Stefan's neck while his encircle her waist. Immediately the two get lost in their own world. The moment she is in his embrace all Stefan can seem to think about is how good she feels in his arms. He revels in the way her breasts feel pressed against his chest, the way her waist feels in his hands and the heat of her breath against his neck.

Similarly, Bonnie's thoughts turn to how good the hard wall of his torso feels pressed against her and how safe she feels in his arms. Safe is not something she gotten to feel as much as of late, so the fact that Stefan provides that for her is very significant.

The rush of sensations their hug provided are not unusual or unexpected, but this time there is a difference in how those sensations will be handled. The initially innocent hug lasts a few more seconds before they both attempt to pull away. The two slowly pull back only to get caught up in each others' gazes; grayish-green clashing with bright green.

"Bonnie, I-" Stefan attempts to speak, but thinks better of it. Instead he strokes her cheekbone with his thumb and both feel the electricity flow through them.

Bonnie watches as his gaze moves to her lips and she knows that he is thinking about kissing her. The last time they were in this position she pulled back at the last second, but this time she knows that neither of them will be pulling away.

Stefan begins closing the small gap between them, his arms wrapping around her waist. Still, before he dips his head, he waits giving Bonnie time to pull away if she wants. When she doesn't pull back, Stefan completes his journey to her lips.

When their lips meet Bonnie revels in the softness of Stefan's lips. With all of his strength and power, it somewhat surprises how soft they are, but when she really thinks about it makes sense.

From the moment his mouth touched Bonnie's he was on fire and what began as a gentle and undemanding kiss quickly turns more urgent. His tongue meets with hers as his hands begin to roam her body moving from her waist to her hips finally stopping to grip her butt. Bonnie hisses in pleasure and moves her hands from around his neck, slipping them underneath his shirt, her fingers moving lightly up and down his muscular torso.

At the feel of Bonnie's nails raking his stomach, Stefan's cock grows almost painfully hard and he uses the grip has on her ass to lift her in the air; their groins slamming together. Though she is initially startled by the unexpected action, Bonnie still wraps her legs around his waist allowing him to carry her to the bed.

On the short walk across the room, his mouth teases hers until she breaks away to get some air. Undaunted, Stefan begins placing hot kisses to her neck only stopping when he lays her across the bed. Bonnie moves her hands to his face, her fingers moving along the sides of his face before dragging his mouth down to hers.

Once again the kiss takes a life of its own and the heat between them increases tenfold. Turned on by the taste and feel of him, Bonnie's hands move to bottom of his shirt, attempting to lift over his head. Their lips are still melded together which makes taking the shirt off somewhat difficult, but they somehow manage to pull away to make it happen.

Stefan smirks slightly when he realizes that Bonnie is distracted by his now shirtless state, but quickly forgets about that when her lips meet his again.

Soon he becomes impatient and raising himself and her up slightly, his hands pulling at clothing until both are completely nude. When he stares at her in wonder as if she were some kind of miracle, Bonnie melts.

Stefan lowers his head again, kissing her softly before asking quietly. "Are you sure?"

When Bonnie nods her head yes, he hurriedly aligns his cock at her entrance and slowly slips inside of her. Stefan inches deeper and deeper, only stopping when he gets to the hilt. Afterwards he lets out a deep growl of satisfaction that seems to accompany the sound of Bonnie's low moan of relief.

Bonnie feels as though she could melt from the heat moving through her body. The moment Stefan thrusts inside her she feels the most intense sensations and based his grunt she can tell he is feeling the same.

Snug, tight inside her, Stefan moves slowly at first, determined to experience every part of her for as long as possible. Holding her to him in a deep embrace, his mouth reaches passionately for her lips. He breaks away to drop kisses on her cheeks, neck, shoulder and chest before moving back to her mouth.

As he thrusts, he can feel her nails digging into his back, demanding that he move faster and harder inside of her. When she huskily calls out his name, Stefan is sure that it is the sexiest thing he has ever heard. Stefan would have never pictured Bonnie as a screamer, so when he hears the husky moans come from her with his every thrust, he finds himself both surprised as well as happy that he's having such an effect on her.

When Stefan pins her hips to the bed, Bonnie feels like she could explode from the pleasure. And when he lets out a groan, she slowly moves hands from his back to his ass, pulling him deeper inside of her. At the feel of Bonnie's hands gripping his ass, he further deepens his strokes, making the bed rock with his powerful thrusts.

The two continue their dance, filling the room with grunts, moans, and growls when Stefan feels Bonnie's walls lock around his shaft. When she finally climaxes around him, he feels the beginnings of his own orgasm. He thrusts a few more times before his entire body stiffens and knows there is no delaying his release. Stefan loudly groans out her name, only to collapse on top of her after he's finished.

He quickly rolls over onto his back bringing Bonnie with him so she is draped on top of him. The two lay cuddled together in silence for who knows how long, neither wanting to break the spell between them. Before Stefan knows it, he realizes that Bonnie has fallen asleep. Smiling softly, he presses a kiss to her forehead before falling asleep himself.

* * *

**Sutton, Virginia (Witches Manor) – Present Day**

Over the last week, Silas has been looking for witches powerful enough to find Bonnie's body. He has been to five different places before this one, but now that he's here he senses the high level of power they wield.

When he walks and automatically notices a group of four witches huddled together. He recognizes them as the Sandberg siblings that consist of two brothers (James and Jonathan) and two sisters (Jane and Jessica). They are all striking with their Nordic roots (blonde hair, blue eyes), yet still manage to come off as unassuming.

Done with his inspection of the witches, Silas clears his throat and all four siblings turn to look at him.

"What do you want, vampire?" James, the tall Thor-like one asks with some hostility.

The others three siblings; Jonathan, Jane, and Jessica all glare at Silas, but say nothing. Silas can't stop himself from laughing at their attempts of intimidation. If they were actually aware of how powerful he is, they would be a lot more cautious with their interactions with him. Silas walks closer to them and

"Relax; I only came because I need some help finding a body that has been magically hidden." He smiles softly in attempt to convince them to help.

"Why should we help you?' Jessica asks him while Jane looks at him disbelief.

"It would help save a lot of lives. You see, the body I need to find is one of my best friends who also happens to be a powerful witch. I'm assuming you've heard of the Bennett Witch line?" He explains, inwardly amused that they are buying the lies coming from his mouth.

They all perk up at the mention of the Bennett witch line and Silas knows that he now has their full attention.

"Of course we've heard of the Bennett line, they are one of the most powerful witch families in history." Jonathan scoffs slightly annoyed Silas' tone.

"What does the Bennett witch line have to do with this?" Jane looks at Silas in confusion.

"The friend that I told you about is a Bennett that was forced out of her body. It was hidden and for some reason my friend is unable to find it while in spirit form. We've tried all we can, but we haven't been able to find her body." He pulls out his best puppy dog Stefan look hoping that it will have the same affect on them as it does on the people in Mystic Falls.

"Why would a Bennett team up with a vampire?" James looks at him suspiciously.

"We met through a mutual friend and discovered that we both like wear White Hats."He jokes and is not surprised when they warm up to him.

"So what do we get out of out of this if we help you?"

"I can help you find a way to give your family just as much power as the Bennett line."

The siblings huddle together for a few moments before deciding on an answer. Eventually, they separate from the huddle and James shakes Silas hand in agreement. Silas smiles seemingly in gratitude, but inwardly he smiles because he knows he has no intention on fulfilling their end of the bargain.

* * *

**Limbo – Present Day**

Stefan wakes up feeing sated and automatically reaches for Bonnie expecting to feel her smaller, warm body when he realizes that her side of the bed is empty. "Bonnie?," He sits up and looks around in confusion expecting to see her somewhere else in the room, but once again comes up empty. Worried, he jumps out of the bed locating his pants on the floor and quickly slips them on.

He walks over to the door and once again attempts to open it, thinking that maybe Bonnie was able to find her way out. No sooner as the thought pops into his mind, he quickly disregards it because there is no way she would leave him here by himself. And if she did leave, she would tell him beforehand. Instead his gut is telling him that Bonnie didn't leave willingly. Just as he about make an attempt to break down the door, he feels another presence in the room and turns around.

"Emily." Stefan gasps in shock, wondering why Bonnie's ancestor is standing in front of him instead of Bonnie.

"Stefan, it's been a long time" Emily smiles softly at Stefan.

"What happened to Bonnie? Is she okay? What are you doing here"' Stefan fires off the rapid questions.

Emily smiles at his focus on her ancestor and she not for the first time wonders what would have happened had she made the deal to protect her family with him instead of Damon. Maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad in the first place.

"You don't need to worry about Bonnie. She was sent back to the ghostly plane with Sheila." Emily explains knowing that he deserves an explanation.

"You mean you're the one who put us here? Why would you do that?" He asks in confusion, wondering why Bonnie's ancestors would trap her in limbo with him. After everything he has done, he would understand them trapping him there, but not Bonnie.

"It wasn't something we did lightly. In fact it was the last thing we wanted to do, but with Bonnie overexerting herself and you ending up in that lake we had no choice."

"What do you mean?" Stefan brow furrows.

"The two of you have enormous battle to fight and we needed you two become closer so you could be better prepared for it. Emily stares at Stefan calmly despite his obvious agitation and confusion.

"Why didn't you just tell us that?"

"When you and Bonnie first met, I had hopes that you two would form a strong bond – you two are alike in many different ways, but I never took into account the lengths you both would go for Elena Gilbert."

Stefan can hear the disappointment in Emily's voice and finches slightly because he knows that she is right. He has done a lot of terrible things in order save Elena and remembering those situations, (the coin toss with Abby and Bonnie in particular) makes him sick. And while Bonnie hasn't gone to sinister lengths for Elena, she has risked a lot for her, when she really shouldn't have.

"You have both been so busy helping Elena with her problems that the friendship you were initially forging wound up being neglected." Emily pauses briefly before continuing on. "We hoped that you would find your way back to each other, but every time you shared a significant moment, you two would move back to the status quo."

Once again Stefan can only nod in agreement.

"The reason we didn't tell you two about the bond is simple. The bond needed to be natural. If we had informed you of the situation, the bond would not be as strong. And from what I can see you two seem to have bonded a lot more than we assumed you would." She says referring to Stefan's shirtless state.

Emily softly laughs when she realizes Stefan is blushing slightly, though she doesn't say anything further about the situation.

"So what happens now?" Stefan asks attempting to change the subject from him and Bonnie back to the limbo situation.

Emily sobers before explaining what comes next, knowing that Stefan will not like finding out he has to go back his watery grave.


	6. Chapter 6

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) – Present Day**

Excited chatter fills up the room and Lucy looks around at the people that Bonnie is the closest to and inwardly shakes her head. It is very unfortunate that it literally took Bonnie's death for them to actually focus on her. Though Lucy hasn't returned to Mystic Falls since their initial meeting, Bonnie has come visit her several times over last year. It was during those visits that Lucy noticed just how much pressure was placed on the young witch. Her most recent visit had been the night of her prom. Bonnie had been upset because Elena attacked her as well as what transpired after that. It had been clear that she needed a break and Lucy had tried to give her one for at least one night. It worked, but after the next day she was back to carrying the world on her shoulders.

The room that had previously been boisterous due to shock of the Lucy's appearance goes quiet as they all watch her attempt a spell that would help them locate Bonnie's body. Lucy frowns in disappointment and Caroline automatically knows the spell was unsuccessful. "Damn it didn't work. The spell isn't powerful enough." She explains

"Well this was a waste of time." Damon is annoyed, still not understanding why they all needed to be here. This could be done without his presence.

Lucy is just about to respond to his rudeness when she freezes seemingly going into a trance. Abby realizes that it's the spirits and hopes that this will be good news.

"What is it Luce?" Abby asks once Lucy comes out of her trance.

"I found a way to find Bonnie. We have to find Stefan first."

Damon stands up straighter, his interest in the situation piqued.

* * *

 

**Sutton, Virginia (Sandberg Manor) – Present Day**

Silas looks on as Jane attempts another spell to locate Bonnie's body. So far they have been unsuccessful, but none of the siblings show any signs of giving up anytime soon. It is then that Silas realizes that now is the perfect time to execute his plan.

"I heard something about a spell that opens up witches' powers, so their spells are much stronger. Maybe you guys could try that one." Silas gives them his best look of innocence.

"Yeah that's risky though because it leaves us open to having our powers stolen." James looks at him suspiciously.

"I'm a vampire, it's not like I would be able to do anything with them. My friend really needs your help." He lays it on thick knowing that they are dumb enough to fall for it.

"I think we should do it." Jessica says and the other two siblings agree with her.

James nods and walks closer and begins the spell. They all close their eyes and when the room is filled with a bright light, Silas knows it's working when James yells out "We found her."

He tells Silas the body's exact whereabouts and when Silas smiles, Jane takes the opportunity to remind them of their deal.

"I did promise you that didn't I. Too bad I lied, the body you helped me find actually belongs to an enemy of mine."

James rushes towards him in anger. "What makes you think we won't kill you where you stand, Vampire."

"Because you longer have your powers." He says simply, his grin widening at their distress. The four siblings frantically attempt to use their powers.

"What did you do." James growls out angrily.

"The spell wasn't the only thing I lied about. You see, I have an extremely powerful witch on my side and she was able to absorb your powers as soon as the spell was done. You shouldn't have been so thirsty for power." He mockingly shames them.

"You won't get away with this." Jane shouts. "We'll find away to defeat you."

"No you won't." Silas looks up and shoots a beam of electricity to the large chandelier above their heads. The heavy object crashes to the ground, landing on the four siblings killing them all instantly.

"As usual you were right, Tigress. The plan worked like a charm." He says as he wipes the blood that splattered on his face upon impact of the chandeliers impact. "Now it's time for us to return to Mystic falls so we can finally be reunited."

He walks out of the manor happily, not caring one bit about the four lives he just took.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) –Present Day**

From what Abby told her about the circumstances surrounding Bonnie's death, if Caroline hadn't realized something was up, this might have gone on much longer. Keeping that in mind, she turns to Caroline in order to explain, more comfortable giving her the details than Damon. Mostly because the blonde vampire is actually focused on Bonnie and also because out of everyone here Caroline is the one that is the most loyal to her cousin.

"There is a spell I can do that will help me find Stefan and that should hopefully lead us to Bonnie." She addresses Caroline knowing that Abby and Rudy focus is on Bonnie.

"Why would finding Stefan, help us find Bonnie?" Caroline asks and there are murmurs from Matt and Elena as well.

"The spirits wouldn't say why. Just that rescuing Stefan would give us the answers we need to Bonnie." Lucy exhales and begins a tracking spell. It doesn't take long for her to figure out Stefan's whereabouts. "Found him. It seems Silas trapped in a large body of water across town." She looks at the group that has crowded around her. "Does that sound familiar to anyone?"

"Yeah." Tyler is the first to respond. "There is a lake across town, but we have a couple of problems. If Stefan's down there we're going to need a boat and someone with diving experience. The water is way too deep for any of us to go down there without some reinforcements.

"I can do the diving."

"You. Seriously?" Damon scoffs. "The last thing we need is for you to kill yourself doing something you have no business doing.

"For your information," Matt bristles "I'm a certified diver, so I'm definitely qualified to dive into to get Stefan."

"When did you do that?" Jeremy slightly curious by the new information, especially if leads to Bonnie being rescued.

"Bonnie and I got certified a couple of years ago." Matt shrugs. "The only problem is I don't know where to find a boat.

"I can provide the boat. If it helps save my daughter" Rudy offers. "I have the keys right here" He pulls the keys off his keychain.

"I just need to get my diving gear from upstairs and we're good to go." He rushes past them and up the stairs to his room.

"You two should really head home while we do this." Lucy says looking at Rudy and Abby. "I know how much you want to see Bonnie, but doing this will go a lot smoother if you aren't around. "

Both want to protest, but decide that they don't want to take any chances that this spell might not work. Instead they sadly nod their heads in agreement with Lucy.

"I'll bring Bonnie back as soon as I can." She nods at them and watches as the two walk off with Tyler and Matt now carrying his scuba gear on their hills.

* * *

 

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila quietly watches as Bonnie paces back and forth, clearly lost in her own thoughts. She suspects her granddaughter's distress is about Stefan, but the younger woman has yet to say any to confirm Sheila's thoughts.

"Stefan will be fine. It's you we need to worry about." Sheila says firmly, taking pity on Bonnie.

Bonnie turns around to face her grandmother, both surprised and unsurprised that she still has the ability to read her thoughts. It's something that her Grams has always been able to do, but Bonnie still hoped to keep her thoughts of Stefan to herself. When she woke up this morning she had been in Stefan's arms and she had been torn between staying in his embrace or freaking out and getting dressed. She chose the latter and she had just managed to pull on her clothes when she was transported back to the ghostly plane. So now on top of dealing with the ramifications of spending a night with Stefan, she now has to wonder why she was transported back.

"From your tone, I'm assuming the spirits had something to do with me and Stefan going to limbo?" Bonnie raises an eyebrow knowingly.

Sheila nods and explains about the bond Stefan and Bonnie need to have and the battle the two will have ahead of them.

"Why not just tell us about the battle in the first place?" Bonnie asks somewhat irked.

"If the spirits told you about the battle, you two wouldn't have bonded naturally and the bond between you would not have been as strong."

At Sheila's mention of the bond, Bonnie's stomach drops. She can't help, but wonder if the spirits were responsible for her night with Stefan. She had already been worried that their night together was just cabin fever, but now she wonders if happened because of her ancestors' interference.

Before Bonnie can continue to wallow in those depressing thoughts, Sheila once again seems to read her mind. "The bond you and Stefan forged together would have happened regardless of the spirits' interference. Being trapped together only sped up the inevitable."

"How do you do that?" Bonnie asks slightly in awe. "How do you always seem to know what I'm thinking? Do you have some special power I don't know about or something?"

"No special powers. I just know you. " Sheila chuckles in amusement before sobering back up. "Speaking of knowing you, we have a lot of ground to cover before we get you back to the land of living."

Sheila walks over to Bonnie and grabs both her hands. She carefully recites a spell and soon the two women are surrounded by a bright light. Bonnie eyes close in reaction the bright light shining in them. In contrast, she eyes stay wide open, seemingly unaffected by the lights. Eventually the bright light putters out Sheila lets go of Bonnie's hands, but says nothing.

"What's going on?" Bonnie looks at her in confusion, wondering why she suddenly feels a lot more powerful.

"I did the spell that Qetsiyah originally intended for herself. As a result your powers are now enhanced and once you are resurrected you will be immortal."

Bonnie gasps in shock, her mind going into overdrive. The enhancement of her powers isn't all that overwhelming, but she does think the immortality is a big deal. It means that she'll never have a normal life again. She will never get the opportunity to grow old. She might not ever have chance to get married or have children and if she did she would likely out live them. On the other hand, she would have something in common with her friends. And if she did happen to get involved with someone who was also happened to be immortal, she would never have to worry about growing old while they stayed eternally young. Not that she's thinking of a specific person, but it would be a mark in the plus column.

"You can still be killed of course, but it would be much more difficult. You're getting a second chance at life, Bonnie. I would advise you not to waste that by sacrificing yourself for everyone the way you have in the past." Sheila's voice takes on a warning tone.

"Okay."Bonnie nods in agreement, silently remembering the similar conversation she and Stefan had when they were in limbo. She knows that she can longer keep putting everyone before her or she will end up in the same position she is currently in the process of getting out of. "So what do we do now?"

"We've done all we can on this side, now it is up those on Earthly plane to complete the process." She walks closer to Bonnie wrapping an arm around her shoulder "I know you will keep working on the side of good, but I want you to promise me that you'll also try to find some happiness as well." She smiles softly at Bonnie and Bonnie smiles back somewhat sadly.

"I promise…. I'm going to miss you so much, Grams." Bonnie shifts into Sheila's arms for a hug.

"I'll always be with you, looking after you."

Sheila pulls Bonnie into a tighter embrace, happy that things will finally begin to work out for her granddaughter.

* * *

 

**Lake – Present Day**

Finding Stefan in the lake doesn't actually take that much time with Matt's expert diving and soon they have him back on the boat. Stefan begins to stir and everyone watches on anxiously.

"Bonnie." Stefan murmurs her name several more times before his eyes abruptly open. He struggles to sit up and eventually Caroline takes pity on him and helps him. Once up he looks around and notices that he's looking into the concerned faces of Elena, Matt, and Tyler. Damon attempts to hide his concern while Jeremy frowns at the fact that Stefan first word upon regaining consciousness is Bonnie's name.

"Stefan, are you okay?" Elena asks in concern. She really wants to reach for a hug, but she knows Damon would not be okay with that.

"I need to get to Bonnie." He blurts out and Elena flinches slightly hurt that he seemingly ignored her question.

"I hate to break it to you little brother, but witchy is no longer on the land of living." Damon is not one for tact so he is unfazed by the glares he receives in response.

Lucy is just about to give him an aneurysm when she notices the look on Stefan's face. "You know where her body is don't you. She asks calmly addressing the weakened vampire.

"Yeah. I do." Stefan looks at her his eyes slightly cloudy, but no less intense remembering his conversation with Emily.

_Stefan only has to take one look at Emily's face to know he will have to go back to being trapped underwater. "You're sending me back aren't you?" He says resignedly._

_"Stefan, I really wish it didn't have to be this way, but we were only allowed to ease your situation a bit by pulling your spirit to limbo. The rest is up to your friends and family."_

_"What about Bonnie? How does she get brought back to life?" Helping him is all good and well, but it will mean nothing if Bonnie isn't around as well._

_"The only thing I'm allowed to you about Bonnie is where her body has been hidden"_

_"And where is that?"….._

"Bonnie's body is in the cave where she died." He says as he comes out of his memories. "Emily said that the sprits thought hiding it there would be less obvious." He attempts to stand up, but his body he's weakened and he promptly falls back down.

"Stefan, I think you need to rest and leave the rescuing of Bonnie to us." Caroline says quietly before lightly pushing the obviously weakened vampire back into his sitting position. Inwardly, Caroline is happy that

"No!" his voice is slurred, yet determined, "You either help me or I'm going on my own. Either way I'm going to be there when Bonnie is brought back. I made a promise to her and I plan on keeping it." And with that he makes another attempt to stand up and aside from a few moments of staggering, is successful this time.

When he is finally steady on this feet, he stares determinedly at Caroline until she nods; giving into his challenge. "Ok, let's go rescue Bonnie." She smiles weakly at him. She is still worried, but realizes that he's a bit too weak for the rescue attempt, but realizes this is obviously something he needs to do.

Without another word, Stefan makes his way to Matt's vehicle, not giving any one else a second glance. Tyler and Matt both run after him both knowing that he's a bit too weak to last on his feet for very long his own.

"Well I don't know about you, but since it looks like the judgmental goody two shoes duo will be fine, I'm gonna go home and relax. Want to join me? "Damon's grins at Elena, only to grimace in pain when he feels daggers of pain shoot through his head. He looks up to see Lucy staring down at him angrily.

"Talk about Bonnie like one more time, I dare you." Lucy stops using her powers on him and she too walks toward where the cars are parked.

"Typical. " Caroline rolls her eyes at him and mutters under her breath before she follows behind Lucy.

Damon stands up and sighs when he notices Elena frowning at him. "What?"

"How could you insult Bonnie like that?"

"Relax, it's not like she's staying dead. She'll be back to annoying me and vice versa in no time." He shrugs apologetically. Not understanding why everyone is acting like Bonnie will stay dead. Jeremy is proof enough of that. "Are you coming with or not?"

"Damon, If you don't want to go fine, but I'm going to see my best friend." Elena glares at him and wraps an arm around Jeremy before they both walk off leaving Damon completely alone.

He glances at the boat that is still sitting in the dirt. His voice takes on a sarcastic edge. "Well obviously, getting the boat back safe and sound has been left to me.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Cave) – Present Day**

As soon as Caroline and Lucy get to the cave they realize that is Stefan holding Bonnie's body in his arms while Matt and Tyler look. Lucy did the spell on the way to cave knowing that with Stefan's determination that he would be the first to find her. Elena and Jeremy are the last to walk in and both seem shocked by the sight.

"Is it safe for him to be holding her like that?" Jeremy asks both in concern and annoyance because he hadn't thought of it first.

"It's fine" Lucy dismisses Jeremy's concerns partially because of the angry glare Stefan leveled at the boy.

Lucy does the spell and they watch as bright light engulfs Bonnie and Stefan. It blinks out and the group waits eagerly for Bonnie to wake up. Stefan continues holding onto her despite the curious looks the others keep shooting him.

Finally Bonnie stirs, her eyes blinking open and the first thing she sees are Stefan's eyes watching her worriedly.

"Welcome back." Stefan says softly and Bonnie smiles softly at him. She can't believe they actually managed to get through all of this in one piece.

"Bonnie, you're okay." Bonnie hears Elena's voice and her soft smile turns into a frown. She attempts to shake herself from Stefan's arms, and a slightly disappointed Stefan reluctantly lets her go. Bonnie stands up and instantly flooded with hugs from everyone. Several versions of I miss you flood the cave and when Caroline pulls her into another hug, Bonnie can't hold back her teary laughter.

"I hate to interrupt this, but I should get you home. Rudy and Abby will be anxious to see you." Lucy looks at Bonnie who finally breaks away from Caroline's tight hug.

"Just give me a few moments with Stefan." She hints.

"We'll be in the car." Lucy nods and makes her way out of the cave along with the others, leaving Bonnie and Stefan alone.

"I'm glad you're okay." Stefan moves closer to Bonnie. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"What exactly did Emily tell you, I know you talked to her." Bonnie knows they have a lot to discuss, but knows only will be enough for now.

"She told me about a bond and mentioned a battle that we needed to be prepared for, but she didn't say much else. What about you? I know you talked to you Sheila, what did she have to say?"

"Well for starters, she enhanced my powers and made me immortal?" Bonnie shrugs as if it isn't a big deal.

"Wow that's…" He doesn't know what to say about that bit of information. He expected the enhancement, but not the immortality. It makes him wonder just how long this battle is supposed to last. The rest of him however is ecstatic that she will be in his life for as long as possible.

"Yeah I guess that means you guys will all be stuck with me for a while." She grins at him.

Stefan smiles back and suddenly he becomes anxious to pull her into his arms. When he attempts to do so, she pulls back.

"What happened between us was the other thing I wanted to talk about." Bonnie sighs not wanting to do so, but knowing it was for the best. "I think we should leave that night we spent together back in limbo and pretend like it never happened."

"Why? That night was amazing." Stefan frowns, confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"We both know that night would have never happened if we hadn't been stuck together. We wouldn't have wanted to jeopardize past relationships." Bonnie explains softly, referring to his relationship with Elena. She had seriously considered starting something when she woke up earlier in the cave wrapped in Stefan's arms. However, after hearing Elena's voice she knew that it would be a bad idea to start something with Stefan because it would only be a matter of time before Stefan's focus went back to Elena.

Stefan had intended on fighting for her, but hearing discuss old relationships makes him realize that she obviously in love with Jeremy. It makes sense; she did die trying to bring him back to life. As much as he wants to be with Bonnie, he wants her to be happy even more. If being with Jeremy will make her happy then he'll back off.

"Maybe you're right." Is all he manages to say before looking away. As a result he misses the resigned look that Bonnie gives him.

"We can still be friends though." Both attempt a smile and Bonnie finds herself in an unexpected hug. The hug lasts longer than intended, neither of them wanting to let go.

It ends when they hear Caroline's voice. "We really need to get going guys."

And with that, they walk of out of the cave together, both inwardly disappointed by the turn of events.

Across the way in another portion of the cave, stand Silas and Qetsiyah locked in a passionate embrace. Silas had been angry that Stefan managed to get to Bonnie's body before he could, but in the end they managed to work it out by using the Sandberg witches powers. As a result they were able to create a replica of her body. Though not quite as powerful, it is still immortal.

Now that they are together, the only thing they have to worry about is defeating their doppelgangers. And they will be defeated no matter how long it takes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill) – Present Day**

Jeremy had hoped that after she was resurrected that they would already be back together, but he’s barely seen her in the last week because she has spent the majority of the week with her family. Understandable, but it makes him all the more anxious to see her which is why he suggested they meet at the Mystic Grill to talk.

 Jeremy looks up from his phone when he hears the sound of the chair being pulled out. “Hey, Stranger.” He smiles at Bonnie happy to finally have the chance to see her alone

“Hey.” Bonnie smiles weakly before she sits down nervously. She knows that Jeremy asked her to meet her because he’s hoping for them to get back together and she isn’t quite sure how to tell him that things have changed since her _death_.

“So, I know you’ve been spending time with your folks and I think that’s great, but I feel like I haven’t seen you all that much since you’ve gotten back.”  Jeremy’s voice takes on a wistful tone.

“Yeah, I felt like I needed that time with them. It has been nice having both of them and Lucy around without having deal with supernatural stuff.” Bonnie smiles slightly thinking of the past week with her family.

“I’m glad, but there is a reason I asked you here. I think we were in the process of getting back together before everything went down.” He smiles. “And now that everything is back to normal, I think we should talk about getting back together.”

He frowns when he reaches for Bonnie’s hand across the table and she pulls away.

“Jeremy, I can’t get back together with you.” Bonnie’s voice is strangely calm despite knowing the fallout this will cause.

“What’s going on, Bonnie?” I thought were going to move past what happened with Anna? How long are you going to continue to punish me for one little mistake?” He had been trying to fix things ever since they broke up and he thought that she had finally forgiven him enough to give them another chance.

“I have moved past it.” Bonnie’s voice rises slightly annoyed by the insinuation that she is trying to punish him. “This has nothing to do with Anna. I forgave you for that a long time ago.” Bonnie eyes are fierce with annoyance, though she attempts to soften her gaze knowing that this is hurting him.

“What other reason could you possibly have for this?” Jeremy asks angrily.

“I care about you Jer, I really do, but only as a friend.” And she does care about him. She has to admit that there is a part of her that wishes she did still have those feelings because it would make it a lot easier to move on and distance herself from that night with Stefan.  But the rest of her is glad because she knows they aren’t right for each other.

“How could your feelings for me have changed so fast? It’s only been a month.”

“That’s just it,” She pauses to hone in her anger before continuing on “For me it hasn’t only been a month. When I was in limbo, time moved faster there. What was a month for you were actually several months for me. I had a lot of time to think and I really believe that us getting back together would have been a mistake.”  Bonnie knows that they would have eventually broken up had they gotten the chance to reunite earlier. It just would have taken much longer (and a lot more painful) for her to come to the realization.

“Why?” Is the only word Jeremy is able to get out. Shocked by the turn this meeting has taken.

“I think we were both clinging to the past and what was familiar. In a way I’m glad it happened. Don’t get me wrong, I will always appreciate what we had, but I think we should leave it in the past.” She squeezes his fist for a brief moment. “I’m sorry if that hurts you”

“Maybe you’re right.” Not believing that one bit. He knows they are meant for each other, he just has to figure out a way to get Bonnie to see that as well.

X

Bonnie leaves not too long after that and Jeremy continues to sit at the table, trying to figure out where everything went wrong. He is jolted out of his thoughts when he hears Damon clear his throat.

“What do you want, Damon?” His asks the vampire already annoyed by his presence.

“Wow. Touchy aren’t we.” His usual smirk in place. “What’s with the constipated look?” Normally Damon wouldn’t care, but he’s bored and taking an interest in Jeremy will win him some points with Elena.

Jeremy hesitantly explains the situation with Bonnie to Damon and is surprised when he actually comes up with a solution.

“I think you should find someone else to date. Show witchy that you can move on too and she’ll eventually come to her senses, most women do.”

“You know, you’re idea is actually pretty good.” Jeremy blurts out slightly surprised as he’d assumed it would be an awful idea.

“Of course it is.” Damon’s voice takes on an arrogant tone and Jeremy laughs because Damon of all people has given him a way to win Bonnie back.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Bonnie’s Bedroom) – Present Day**

**_Later that Night_ **

Bonnie tosses and turns in her bed unable to fall asleep. She’s not sure what it is, but ever since she’s come back from limbo she has been unable to get a full night of sleep. On her next shift in the bed she hears a loud tapping against her window. Startled, she looks up cautiously only to sigh in relief when she realizes that it is Stefan.  She quickly walks over to the window, mindful of her mother’s enhanced hearing.

“Hey.” Stefan whispers, his voice slightly rough when he finally gets a good look at her. Bonnie is wearing a pair of boxer shorts and tank top, her legs and arms showcased to perfection without trying. Her hair is slightly rumpled, but she’s still the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

“Stefan? What are you doing here?  It’s 2am and my parents are right downstairs.” She hisses at him.

“I know, that’s why I came through your window.” He grins widely and Bonnie is unable to fight returning his infectious grin. He really does have a great smile and seeing it always makes her stomach flutter.

“That’s nice and all,but you still haven’t answered my question.”  She persists despite the amusement she is feeling.

“I couldn’t sleep. Actually I haven’t really slept all that much since we got back.” Stefan looks at her intensely his eyes strangely bright considering his lack of sleep.

“And you thought knocking on my window in the middle of the night was the best way to remedy that?” Bonnie’s voice takes a sarcastic edge.

“I wanted to test a theory.” Stefan walks closer to Bonnie, inwardly grinning when he realizes the effect his proximity has on her.

“What theory is that?” Bonnie’s voice is slightly out of breath.

“That we have gotten used sleeping in the same room when we were stuck in limbo and because of that we have been having trouble this last week.”

“What makes you think I’m having any problems sleeping?” Bonnie scoffs at his assumption, despite knowing that he’s right. He doesn’t need to know that she misses his comforting presence –the safety he provided for her or the feel of his hard body against her.

“I could mention the dark circles under your eyes, but I have feeling you would kick my ass if I did, so I won’t mention them.” He jokes and is unsurprised when punches his shoulder. “Seriously though, I could hear you tossing and turning before I knocked on the window.” He shrugs.

“Okay you’re right, I can’t sleep either. So what exactly do you want to do about it?”

“Try and sleep.” He lies on the bed and Bonnie only hesitates briefly before lying beside him. And within a few minutes vampire and witch have both fallen asleep.

X

As they have done the past few nights, Abby and Rudy check on Bonnie. They expect her to be tossing and turning as she has the previous nights, but Abby can hear based on her slower breathing that she is actually asleep.

Still, when they open the door to make sure, they are surprised when they see Stefan and Bonnie lying in her bed fast asleep, Bonnie is enclosed in Stefan’s arms and her head resting on his shoulder. Rudy makes an attempt to rush over to the sleeping couple, but Abby stops him. Rudy looks at her curiously and Abby explains her reason for stopping him.

 “It’s the first time she’s really slept since she’s come back and I’m guessing the same goes for him. They clearly could use the sleep, so I don’t see any harm with letting them get some rest.”

“Why would a vampire need our daughter to help him fall asleep?” Rudy frowns perplexedly.

“It makes sense, considering what they have both been through together. She clearly trusts him and he did help bring her back. So maybe we should trust her judgment on this one.” Abby looks up at Rudy pleadingly and Rudy finds himself slightly distracted by the look on his face.

“Okay, but we definitely won’t be making a habit of this.” He decides to let it go and the two of them head out of the room closing the door behind them.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Forbes Home) – Present Day**

A few days later, Bonnie finds herself sandwiched between her two best friends on Caroline’s bed for a sleepover. It had been Elena’s idea for the sleepover to celebrate Bonnie’s return to the living, but having it at the boardinghouse was impossible due to the presence of Jeremy and Damon. And having the sleepover at Bonnie’s place was also out of the question because Rudy is still uncomfortable with the idea of inviting Elena in. So in the end they decided on Caroline’s place since it was the quietest at the moment.

They spent the first hour talking about Bonnie’s decision to keep her death from them.  After Bonnie explained her reasons for doing so and acknowledged how bad of idea it had been. She assured them that she wouldn’t do anything like that again. That eventually led to a discussion about her time and in limbo with Stefan and while Bonnie didn’t reveal much, it had been clear that she and Stefan had gotten to know each other very well.

Hours later, their conversation eventually turned to the guys in their lives. They talked about Damon (much to the consternation of Bonnie and Caroline) and Tyler (which had actually been interesting). Naturally the conversation turned to Jeremy and Bonnie found herself having to explain why she and her ex had not gotten back together like they all assumed.

“I don’t get it,” Elena says been bites of popcorn. “I really thought you guys were on the verge of getting back together right before everything went down.” Much like her brother, she had assumed the two of them would be attached by the hip by now and had been happy about the potential news.

 “I just don’t feel that way about him anymore. Spending time so much time away made realize that I moved on” Bonnie explains hoping that neither of friends notices her that she is holding back. She knows she can’t tell them that part of the reason her feelings have changed is because she fell for Stefan.

Caroline and Elena glance at each other both knowing that Bonnie is holding something back, but decide not to address it at the moment. Sensing Bonnie’s apparent urgency to change topics, Caroline decides to help her friend out.

“So with all that’s been going on we haven’t had a chance to talk about Whitmore.” The three of them decided months ago before everything went down that they would room share a dorm suite together.  They will each have their own room, but the three of them will share a bathroom and a few other amenities. They had initially been planning on living a triple room, but realized that they probably would have wanted to kill each other if they had.

“It’s hard to believe that next month we’ll be starting college.” Bonnie is both grateful for the change in topic and excitedly begins talking about the upcoming month, Caroline and Elena both happy to join her in the discussion.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Bar) – Present Day**

With her job rescuing Bonnie and the week spent visiting her younger cousin coming to an end; Lucy decided that she would have a drink before she left down. She had already said her goodbyes to Bonnie (and Abby) and had promised to call once she got back home.

 Sitting at the bar, the last person, Lucy expects to run into at this seemingly run down old bar is Katherine. The former vampire sits down next to her, ordering a drink when the bartender makes her way over to them.  Annoyed, she ignores the woman’s presence intent on finishing her drink in piece before she leaves Mystic Falls.

“Oh come on Luce, there’s no reason to be like that?” Katherine rolls her eyes and pouts mockingly at the other woman’s behavior.

“Considering what happened the last time I was in town, I would say there’s plenty of reason for me to be like that. What the hell do you want?”

“I’m sure you can tell that I was turned human.” Katherine says the words with such disdain that Lucy is unable to stop her laughter. Katherine has to be one of the few people that would be this upset about being turned human.

“Yeah, I heard about that.” She asks between laughs. “What exactly does you being turned human have to do with me?”

“I want you to find some kind of spell to reverse this madness.” Katherine’s voice rises slightly, glaring at someone of the other customers when they look her way..

“And you actually think I would help you after what happened that last time I was town? Why don’t you just find a vampire to help you? I’m sure you could find one that’s willing.” Lucy looks at the other woman, wondering what she might have planned. She knows that despite being human, Katherine is still dangerous because of how long she’s been around.

Katherine smirks before leaning in closer to Lucy. “We both know me being sired to another vampire would lessen my power. My best bet is getting this reversed with a spell. As for why, I came to you, Bonnie made a deal with me before her death” She uses air quotes on the word death. “The way I see it, this would be you picking up her slack.”

“Don’t try that crap with me. I know about the deal she made and from what I heard, Qetsiyah was the one that screwed you over. Besides, wouldn’t the fact that Silas is walking around right now as we speak void your so-called deal.”  She grins sardonically at the other woman. “I’m not helping you. You’re going to have to find way to get out of this mess by yourself.” Lucy stands up. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Katherine watches in annoyance as Lucy saunters out of the bar leaving her alone.  “Well, it looks like me and Bon-Bon are going to need to have a little meeting.” She drains the drink she ordered before walking out of the bar as well.

* * *

 

**New York (Hotel Room) – Present Day**

Qetsiyah lounges happily in the bed watching as Silas slips out of the bed completely nude. After being separated for over two thousand years, they have spent the majority of their time making love.  She had not forgotten how insatiable he could be and was glad that time didn’t change that detail. After their reunion in the caves, they decided it would best for them to leave Mystic Falls so they could regroup. It wouldn’t do them any good to stay around with their doubles after them. They eventually decided on coming to New York because there are a lot of magical communities they could take advantage of.

He grins at her as he walks backs over with the grimoire that he took from the Sandberg “I figured this would be useful in our attempts to eliminate our doubles.” He hands it to her before slipping back in the bedside her. She skims the book

“It will do for now.” She smiles at him. Part of her is sadden that she will have to kill family, but she wants the power that killing Bonnie will give her and Silas more than she cares about preserving her family line.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mystic Falls (Stefan’s Home) – Present Day**

Stefan slips on a blue button down shirt and is getting ready to button it when he hears a knock at the door. When he gets to the door he is slightly surprised to see Bonnie standing there holding a grimoire.

“Hey.” Bonnie smiles at him in greeting. She then takes notice of his unbuttoned shirt; her eyes drawn to the exposed skin of his torso. Just looking at him makes her remember how great it felt to be tangled up with him and the heat rises within her. Attempting to shake her head of those thoughts, Bonnie concentrates on the reason she came in the first place.

“Hey. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”  He adds realizing how the first part sounds. “Not that I’m not happy to see you.”  Happy to see her would be an understatement. The moment he opened the door and realized it was Bonnie, the blood rushed straight to his cock and now he’s finding it difficult to take his eyes off of her. She’s wearing a patterned sundress and he briefly thinks back to the day he asked her to make Caroline a day walker ring. She had been wearing something similar back then and though he had been seeing Elena at the time, he remembers noticing how beautiful she looked surrounded by the sunlight.

It has been a month since they’ve gotten out of limbo and his feelings for her have only increased. They’ve hung out as friends quite bit and while he had hoped just being in contact with her would be enough, he finds himself falling deeper for her.  Today they were all meeting to form a plan that will take out a vampire that has recently come to town.  Taking him out shouldn’t be too much trouble, but they figured it was better to be fully prepared.

“Nice place.” Bonnie looks around as Stefan directs her through the living room house and into the dining room. This is the first time she has seen his new place. Since they have only really hung out together in public settings this last month.  Which she is now realizing was probably a good thing considering the desire that is running through her at the moment.

“Yeah.” Stefan says distractedly his eyes too busy focusing on the curve of her ass to pay attention to anything else.

Bonnie turns around abruptly and blushes slightly when she looks into his eyes and realizes where his gaze had previously been.  Stefan meets her stare head on seemingly unembarrassed by his actions.

“So cleaning up after Silas had to suck.” She remembers hearing from Caroline that Silas had been leaving in Stefan’s home while they were gone. Bonnie had been slightly grossed out until Caroline mentioned and that she and Matt had spent the next day helping Stefan disinfecting the place.

“Yeah, it took a lot of work, but better than living with his filth. He was really messy.” Stefan grimaces jokingly and Bonnie smirks, knowing how much of a neat freak Stefan can be at times.

Unconsciously, the two move closer to each other until there are only a few feet of space between them. They continue to heatedly staring at each other, the temperature rising in the room. Without warning, Stefan catches her face between his hands and crushes his mouth to hers. And it is just as amazing as he as he remembers, all he could hope for and long for. He deepens the kiss needing to get closer relishing in the feel of her lips on his.

Bonnie gasps, and reflexively grabs for his arms. Feeling his hard muscles flex underneath her palms, she attempts to find the willpower to push him away. She had been trying for weeks to push her thoughts of him out of her mind, but she hasn’t had any luck. His lips are so soft, so warm, and not to mention more tempting than anyone’s should be allowed.  She trembles as his tongue briefly traces her lips before he slips it back inside her mouth with so much passion that she can feel the wetness between her thighs increase.

The two of them kiss frantically for several moments until the next thing either of them knows, Bonnie’s hands are fumbling with his zipper and his erection is freed. Seconds later, Stefan has her draped across the large dining room table, her dress pushed up to her waist. He then pushes her panties aside and penetrates her with one powerful thrust. When he finally bottoms out inside of her Stefan thinks about how amazing it feels. He knew he had missed her, but to actually experience this with her once again made him realize he just how much he needs her.

 Bonnie moans in satisfaction, her walls clenching tightly around his shaft. It’s as if her body is picking up where they left of that day they spent together in limbo. She had never felt anything like that before and now that they are here again; she knows that it wasn’t a fluke.

“I missed you so much.” he confesses as his hips pump and then rotate. “You missed me too, didn’t you?”  The question comes out of his mouth as a statement. Instead of answering Bonnie shudders with pleasure, her walls tightening around his shaft. It is then Stefan realizes that he has never had sex this hot. He has to admit that there was a part of him that wondered if the time they spent together in limbo had been because of where they were than anything else, but now he knows that it wasn’t. That it is because of the connection they have to each other. Soon he feels her tense around him and he speeds up his trusts quickly bringing both of them to an orgasm simultaneously.

He collapses on top of her; his head finding its way to her collarbone. Bonnie shudders, partially because of the aftershocks and partially because of the soft kisses Stefan is currently pressing to her neck. Bonnie sighs at the feel of his lips against her neck and involuntary she shifts a bit. She is unsurprised when she feels Stefan’s erection harden slightly and the need quickly flairs up in her again.

Stefan growls when her walls tighten around his shaft and he hardens slightly. When he removes his lips from her neck and gets a look at the sultry look on her face, his cock hardens even more. Just when he thinks they are on their way to another round, there is a knock on the door. He groans in annoyance, but he still manages to slowly pull away from her and quickly refasten his pants.

As if she were suddenly broken from a trance, Bonnie quickly jumps up from the table, readjusting her own clothes as well as picking up the grimoire that had previously been forgotten about.  In her peripheral vision, she can see him quickly button his shirt up and it suddenly hits her that she just had sex with Stefan.  Again. It was already difficult trying to forget what happened between them in limbo, but she is unsure if she will be able to do it this time.  Unable to deal with those right now she begins looking through her grimoire in order to avoid looking at Stefan.

Stefan sighs sadly when he realizes Bonnie is avoiding him, but with the knocking becoming more incessant, he knows addressing her avoidance will have to wait until after the meeting is over. He rushes through the house to the front door. He attempts to adjust his pants before he opens the door, but he knows that nothing will truly camouflage the large bulge in his pants. He can only hope no one notices.

When he finally pulls the door open he sees a suspicious Caroline along with Matt, Tyler, as well as an unexpected Jeremy. When they called this meeting, Stefan had assumed Jeremy wouldn’t be attending since Elena and Damon were out of town and he has a tendency to avoid going to meetings when Elena isn’t around. When Jeremy attempts to look around Stefan, obviously searching for someone it suddenly makes sense. Jeremy only came to see Bonnie.  As a result Stefan is unable to rein in the slight flood jealously that runs through him at thought of Jeremy with Bonnie even after what just happened between them. Especially considering that Jeremy is more than likely the reason Bonnie is pulling away from him.

“Come on in.”He greets them, temporarily shaking his head of his jealousy filled thoughts. He opens the door wider and steps aside so the four of them can come in.

Caroline is the first to walk in and is while she unsurprised to Bonnie sitting at the table, she is surprised to smell Bonnie’s signature scent on Stefan when he walks past her and takes a seat across from Bonnie.  Bonnie does her best job at pretending not to notice and Caroline wonders what that is all about. Suspicious, she decides to sit next to her best friend who looks up and smiles at her in greeting before turning back to study her grimoire.

Tyler opts to sit next and across from Caroline. Before Jeremy can rush to sit next to Bonnie, Caroline hints consciously to Matt and he takes that seat instead, leaving Jeremy to sit across from him and next to Stefan. This way she is able to observe both of them and figure out what exactly happened between the two of them without the distraction of Bonnie’s ex-boyfriend.

And not long after that the meeting begins.

X

An hour later the meeting is over and the others rush out. Jeremy is the first to go, clearly disappointed that Bonnie barely noticed him at the meeting. Matt and Tyler are the next to leave after Caroline tells Tyler to go on without her, hinting that she needs to talk to Stefan.  He gives her his keys, deciding to catch a ride with Matt.

Meanwhile, Stefan watches as Bonnie rushes out of his house and into her car. He is so engrossed in watching Bonnie leave; he fails to notice that Caroline is still there watching him with curiosity.

“Ok, spill it.” Caroline demands bluntly. The last hour has been spent observing her two friends behavior and now that she has Stefan alone she wants some answers.

 “I thought you left with the others.”  Stefan turns around quickly, obviously surprised by her presence. “And spill what exactly?” He had been intending on rushing after Bonnie, but with Caroline still there, he knows that will have to wait.

“You were so busy watching Bonnie, that you wouldn’t have noticed a spaceship if it landed right in front of you. So I ask once again, what’s going on with you two?”  She had noticed the eye sex between them several times during the meeting and when they weren’t doing that they were avoiding looking at each other altogether. Though, she notes that the avoidance was mostly from Bonnie’s side.

Stefan briefly wonders if he should reveal what happened between Bonnie and him in limbo, since Bonnie seemed intent on keeping it a secret. But he quickly decides that after what just happened between the two them today, he needs to talk to someone about the situation. And who better than Bonnie’s best friend.

“Do you remember when we talked about at prom? When you told me that I would fall for someone other than Elena?” He asks softly

“Yeah?” Caroline nods remembering that conversation they had months ago.

Stefan says nothing in response and instead gives her a meaningful look that conveys everything he has been feeling for the last several months.

“Oh my God!” Caroline’s eyes widen in surprise. “You mean you’re-“

“I’m in love with Bonnie.” Stefan blurts out; happy to finally be able to tell someone, even if it isn’t the person that needs to hear it the most.

Caroline stands there frozen in shock, her mind going into overdrive thinking about everything that’s happened in the last month.  The closer relationship the two have had since they got back, his steely determination on rescuing Bonnie, not to mention his slightly hostile behavior towards Jeremy. She assumed the latter was because of Elena, but now it’s obvious that it’s because of the younger Gilbert’s past relationship with Bonnie.

“I’m guessing this happened during your time together in limbo?” She looks at him knowingly.

“Yeah, we got really close while we were there.” Stefan vaguely admits, not wanting reveal the details of the night they spent together.

“And is she the reason why you stayed herein Mystic Falls?” She had assumed he stayed because he was secretly hoping that Elena would change her mind, but now she thinks it was more than likely because of her best friend.

“Definitely, but I also stayed because being around Elena no longer has an effect on me.” Caroline looks up in shock and Stefan begins to explain further. “The moment I came back I knew that I was over her and that I had fallen in love with Bonnie”

As he explains, Caroline begins to smile happy for her two friends before remembering Bonnie’s quick exit.

“I guess that explains why you both reek of sex, but it doesn’t explain why she rushed out of here like the place was on fire.”

Stefan blushes slightly before sobering up. “I’m not sure either. I pulled back when we first got back because I thought that’s what she wanted. I know she feels something for me, but she keeps pulling away from me. The only thing I can think of is that it’s because of her feelings for Jeremy.” He looks down sadly.

Caroline doubts that Jeremy is the reason Bonnie is pulling away. In fact, she suspects that another Gilbert is the problem, but she knows that Bonnie should be the one to reveal that. “You know what I think? I think you need to be honest about your feelings. So you know either way.”

“I know” Stefan agrees. “I was actually planning on going after her, but _someone_ interrupted me.” He directs at her pointedly.

“Not my fault you were being so obvious.” She throws back at him, her trademark grin in place before taking on a more subdued tone “I think you should give some Bonnie time to think.” She sighs, “Rushing after her, so soon probably won’t workout in your favor.” They both pause thinking of Jeremy’s attempts to get Bonnie back after he cheated with Anna. “If I know Bonnie, she’ll come to you and that is when you should lay everything on the line.”

“Ok, I’ll wait, but if she doesn’t come I’m going after her.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, but I don’t think you’ll have to wait very long. Oh and just so you know if all this works out between you and Bonnie, you better not break her heart or I will kick your ass.” Caroline says goodbye after that and gets into her car. Once she is enclosed in the car, she pulls out her cell phone and pushes a number on her speed dial.

“Bonnie it’s me, I really need to talk to you. I’ll meet you at your house in a half hour. Bye”

She and Bonnie needed to have a little talk if Caroline’s want her prediction to Stefan about Bonnie not making him wait long to her to come true.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill) – Present Day**

Jeremy sighs as he picks up the meal that he ordered. Bonnie ignored him completely during the meeting. He had only gone in the first place because he knew she would be there and he had hoped that he could make some progress in his plan to get her back. He is still baffled as to what changed between them in the last year. Before their deaths and subsequent resurrections, he thought that they were on the path to reconciliation, but now she seems against it.

 Maybe Damon was right and he should move on for a while with someone else. Maybe having him suddenly unavailable will make her decide that they are meant for each other. As if conjured, he sees Hannah, the girl he had the blind date with walk through the doors.

When their eyes meet she smiles and he takes as a cue to walk over to her.

“Hi, Jeremy.” She greets him.

“Hi, Hannah. Funny running into you here.” He laughs nervously “You know, I was actually planning on calling you.”

“Really?”She asks slightly skeptical.

“Yeah, I know the date we had before with my sister and her boyfriend was kind of a bust, but I was hoping we could do it again. I was dealing with something back then, but now I’m doing a lot better. I would love to make it up to you. So what do you say?” He grins charmingly at her.

“I say you should start by buying my dinner.” Hannah moves closer to him.

“Okay.” He sees her smile and thinks that Damon’s idea is actually brilliant because he’ll have the pleasure of being around another beautiful woman before he gets Bonnie back.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Bonnie’s Bedroom) – Present Day**

It doesn’t take very long for Caroline to make it over to Bonnie’s and when she opens the door to her bedroom she sees Bonnie staring at the ceiling, obviously lost in thought.

“You and I need to have a little talk.” Caroline decides to pull no punches as she lies down next to Bonnie on the bed.

“You said as much on the phone.” Bonnie turns her head to give the blonde vampire her attention. Truth be told, she could really use the distraction from what just happened to between her and Stefan. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“You and Stefan” Caroline gives Bonnie a meaningful glance and Bonnie realizes that her plan not to think about Stefan is already shot to hell.

“What about me and Stefan?” Bonnie plays dumb, hoping that Caroline hasn’t figured out what’s been happening between them.

“Um I don’t know…” Caroline’s turns voice acerbic “How about the fact that both of you reeked of sex by the time the rest of us made it to Stefan’s place. Or the eye sex that you two kept having throughout the meeting. Or the way –“

“Okay, okay. I get the picture.” Bonnie interrupts her. “You don’t have to keep going.” She blushes briefly.

“So why are you here staring at your ceiling, instead of basking in the afterglow of your first time together by having more amazing sex with Stefan.” And Caroline has no doubt that it would be amazing based on the heat she noticed between them today. Not to mention how tightly wound they both could be. She has a feeling when that if they truly let loose, great things could happen.

“Today wasn’t the first time we slept together. We spent the night together when we were trapped in limbo.” Bonnie admits quickly.

“Wow.” Caroline’s jaw drops in shock. She knew Stefan was holding back on what happened between him and Bonnie, but she had no idea it was this. When she takes a closer look at Bonnie she realizes that she looks upset.

“Seriously, Bonnie…” She grabs Bonnie’s hand. “What’s up?”  Bonnie doesn’t answer right away, but Caroline waits her out, knowing she’ll answer when she’s ready.

“I’m in love with him.” Bonnie admits quietly after several moments. “When we were stuck in limbo, I got to see a different side of him. I found out such much about him that I never knew and gradually I fell for him.”

Caroline fights the urge to squeal at the news and instead tries to get the bottom of Bonnie’s sadness. “So what’s the problem? You don’t make it habit of falling for more than one guy at a time, so I know it isn’t because of Jeremy.”  She has an inkling of the problem, but she wants to be sure.

“No, I told Jeremy it wasn’t going to happen as soon as we got back. The problem is that even if I’m over my old relationship, there is no guarantee that Stefan is over his.”

“This is about Elena?” Caroline struggles not to roll her eyes because everything always seems to come down to Elena.

“Yeah. “ Bonnie admits sadly. “As long as I’ve known Stefan, one thing has always been a constant-his feelings for Elena. I just don’t think I could handle being a rebound for him.” She lets go of Caroline’s hand.

“You have to know that Stefan would never do something that to you.” And if he did she would kick his ass, but she knows that based on his confession earlier, him using her that way is not even in the realm of possibilities.

“I don’t think he would do it purposely, but we’re talking about a guy who wanted to have his memories erased just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of losing her.” Referring to last fall when he wanted Rebekah to compel away his memories of Elena. “Who’s to say that if Elena suddenly decides she wants Stefan again that he wouldn’t jump at the chance. I’ve already gone through that kind of thing with Jeremy and I know I couldn’t handle that with Stefan.” She finishes miserably.

“I really don’t think that will happen, but either way you should talk to Stefan. I could tell he was upset that you rushed out so quickly after the meeting. You should go and clear the air with him.” She doesn’t tell her about his fears regarding Jeremy as she figures that should be something Stefan reveals himself.

“You’re right. I think I’ll go right now.” The both sit up at the same time.  “Thanks, Caroline” Bonnie hugs Caroline in gratitude before rushing out of the room.

“Well, I did my part, the rest is up to you, Stefan.” Caroline says quietly to herself before leaving the room as well.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls (Stefan’s Home)**

Stefan paces the floors of his living room, rethinking Caroline’s idea to let Bonnie come to him. It’s been several hours and he’s starting to think it would better if he went to see her. Excited at the thought of seeing her, he picks of his car keys before making his way to the front door. He has just managed to open the door when he sees the object of his thoughts standing there.  Her fist is hovering in mid air and he realizes that she was just getting ready to knock.

“Bonnie.” He feels the butterflies moving in his stomach and despite not knowing the outcome of her reasoning, he is immensely happy to see her.

“Um…” She begins uncertainly as it is obvious that he was getting ready to leave. “I came to talk, but if you were on your way out it can wait until another time.”

“It’s fine, I was actually on my way to see you. Come on in”

Bonnie walks past him and he gets déjà vu from earlier when she came in. It’s obvious that Bonnie wants to say something, so he holds off on saying anything for moment.  Stuffing his hands in pockets he waits for Bonnie to begin.

“What happened between us earlier can’t happen again.”

Stefan’s heart drops. “Is it because of Jeremy?” He hates to ask, but he needs to know one way or another.

“No.” Bonnie looks at him in confusion. “Why would you think this is because of Jeremy?”

“You’ve been pulling away from me ever since we got back from limbo. I thought that was what you were talking about when you mentioned past relationships in that cave.”  Stefan walks closer to her so they are only a few feet apart.

Bonnie sighs knowing that she’ll have to be completely honest, but at least he’ll know why she’s pulling back.

“It’s about Elena-” She begins, but is interrupted.

“What the hell does Elena have to do with this?” Stefan growls out slightly annoyed.

“I’m not looking to be cast aside if she suddenly decides she wants you back. And let’s be honest, based on the last year, her changing her mind is a definite possibility. I went through something like that once before with Jeremy and Anna. I don’t think I could do it again.” She looks down at the floor sadly.

Stefan steps closer to her lifts her chin in order to look into her eyes. She finally meets his gaze and is shocked by the intensity she sees there.

“I’m over Elena. I have been for awhile and just didn’t realize it until I had some time away from her. You’re the only woman that I want.” He surprises her when he moves her hand to his groin. “Can you feel what you do to me?” He hisses in pleasure when Bonnie’s grip tightens slightly.

Bonnie feels him harden at her touch and while there is part of her that flushes in embarrassment, she is unable to find the strength to move her hand.

“Tell me you don’t feel this.” He moves her hand from around his erection to his chest. “Whenever I’m in the same room as you my heart races, it races at just the thought of you.”

“I’m pretty sure that as a vampire your heart doesn’t actually race.” She interrupts him wryly.

“You know what I mean.” He rolls eyes in mirth before returning to his serious state.  “The way I feel for you fills up my entire being. Every new thing I find out about you makes me fall even harder.”  Bonnie gasps as he unknowingly mirrors her earlier words to Caroline.

Moving his hands to her cheeks, he pulls her face closer until their noses are touching. “I’m in love with you.” His confesses fiercely, his voice taking on a silky tone she has never heard from him before. “If you can tell me you don’t feel the same way, I’ll back off. But at least tell me how you feel.”

“I’m in love with you too.” Bonnie confesses quietly after a few moments of silence. “I just don’t want to get hurt again.”

“I can’t promise I’ll never hurt you, just like you can’t promise not to ever hurt me, but I promise I’ll try my hardest to keep it from happening.” He leans in brushing his lips across hers in a soft kiss, waiting for her reaction.

He feels relieved when she leans in and kisses him deeply. Soon the kiss grows; what began as soft and slow becomes rough and passionate. His hands move to grasp her waist and she wraps her arms around his neck. Their tongues tangle together and Bonnie moans at the taste of him. Mechanically, the two make their way to Stefan’s bedroom still locked in their embrace.  Only managing slip off their shoes.

Once they make it to the bedroom, they separate slightly, getting caught up in each other’s gaze. Bonnie’s heart flutters when she sees the reverence in eyes. He is only slightly surprised when Bonnie hands slowly to his collar and she begins unbuttoning his shirt. Bonnie quickly moves to slide it off his shoulders. Not caring in the least when the shirt hits the floor, Bonnie instead presses several kisses to his torso.

Stefan groans in pleasure, swiftly pulling her up in order slip his tongue in her mouth. He finds the zipper on the back of her dress and slowly pulls it down. Bonnie shimmies out of the dress leaving her naked save a tiny pair of underwear.

Feeling that Stefan is overdressed, Bonnie begins unbuckling his belt and pulls down his pants and underwear. When he finally steps out of both, Bonnie is distracted by his hardened cock and the rest of his naked body, only to shriek in surprise when Stefan proceeds to rip off her underwear and pick her up.

He carries them over to bed, laying her across the bed before draping himself above her. Their lips meet in another passionate kiss and Bonnie moans when Stefan quickly slides into her wet heat. Both moan at the contact and the level of arousal they both feel.

Wanting to make this last longer than the previous times, Stefan moves slowly inside of her intending on making this last for a long as possible.

X

Hours later, Stefan looks down at the face of the beautiful woman lying peacefully in his arms and feels contentment run through him.  He’s been watching her for an hour since sleep is the last thing that is on his mind. He has to admit that part of him is afraid that if he goes to sleep, he wake up and find out that what happened between him and Bonnie was just a dream.

He shifts slightly and Bonnie stirs, her face taking on smile when their eyes meet. “Hi.” She says softly happiness radiating from her voice.

“Hi.” He grins back at her.

“Have you been watching me this whole time?” She asks after she glances at the alarm clock on the end table next to bed.

“Yeah. I like looking at you.” He grins unapologetically before confessing, “Plus I’m kind of afraid I’ll go to sleep and this will have all been a dream.”

Bonnie looks away guiltily, knowing that it was her pulling away from him that is the reason for his insecurity. Leaning her face closer to his she attempts to reassure him.

“You don’t have to worry about me running off again. I’m in this, as long as you’re in this. I meant it when I said I love you.” She rubs his chest slightly before pressing a light kiss to his lips.

“So does this mean that you’re officially my girlfriend because I’d really like to take you out on a date.”

“Yes to both questions” Bonnie laughs at the look on his face, melting when Stefan leans up to kiss her. He deepens the kiss, lingering for a few moments before rolling over so she is underneath him.


End file.
